


To Those Left Behind

by Calm_Fire



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Best Friends, Caroline and Penelope brotp, Childhood to young adult, F/F, Kindergarten, Penelope’s connection to the afterlife, the merge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2020-08-11 23:43:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20162089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calm_Fire/pseuds/Calm_Fire
Summary: Josie could feel a friendly warmth radiating from the cut. She couldn’t help the fleeting thought that, up close, Penelope smelled like vanilla and her eyes had little gold flecks when the sun hit them just right.Or AU when Josie and Penelope meet in kindergarten and find themselves complicating the simplest love story in history.





	1. The Start

**Author's Note:**

> New writer here, but I’m enamored with the love story between these two. Phenomenal community, just wanted to write to what things would look like if these two found themselves together in kindergarten. I’m a sucker for this trope and I hadn’t seen it yet. Just today, I actually saw a new story pop up with a similar prompt, but I haven’t read it yet! All writing is original, critique is welcome! The whole story is essentially written, but I’m having a lot of re-editing done.

Josie Saltzman was a quiet kindergartner. Crouching down at the school planter, she let the soft, wet soil take over her senses while her sister rattled on about the new kid joining their class. In her mind, it was always easier to let her twin sister, Lizzie, do all of the talking. Lord knows she did enough for the both of them. For Josie, the school was filled with so much input that to sit back and watch things unfold was significantly more interesting than putting yourself out for the world to judge. Kids were mean and loyalty to her sister was all that ever mattered.

Today, there was a new young witch that moved into Mystic Falls to join the inaugural class of Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted’s elementary branch. Unlike the rest of the class who was busy whispering about what the new girl would be like and if she would be their friend, Josie was too engrossed in the task at hand. Planting her favorite purple lily bulbs was hard work, you know. Josie made sure to nod and hum at just the right times while her sister was preoccupied with making a determination about whether or not she was going to invite the new girl to work at the same planter as them.  
“Josie...JOSIE” Lizzie looked indignant.  
“Pay attention! She’s coming over.”  
Josie finally looked up from a particularly thick, dead root that was right where she wanted to plant. Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything sharp enough to cut through.  
“What, Lizzie?” Lizzie was busy trying to prep the area to make room. Walking toward Josie was a young girl, a few inches shorter than her with soft, brown curly hair and bright green eyes. The girl seemed a little shy and was apprehensive about where to go. 

Lizzie could take care of interacting. Josie really wanted to see these lilies bloom at the end of the season and this root was really cutting into her planting time. Josie finally found a sharper trowel to start jabbing at the root.  
“Hi there...I’m Penelope Park” Penelope smiled and offered a small wave of her hand.  
“Hi, I’m Lizzie and this is my twin sister, Josie!”  
Josie looked up and forgot about what her hands were doing. The trowel slipped off the root and, instead of cutting it, Josie missed and cut the palm of her left hand.  
Her eyes immediately began to water and Lizzie could feel that her sister was about to cry. Lizzie ran to go get the teacher who was all the way at the other end of the garden’s clearing. “Hold on, Jo!”

Clutching her hand close as if close proximity to her body would stop the pain, little Josie began crying. The gash was a sizable two inches long and it didn’t take long for the blood to begin dripping. Penelope began tearing up too. She didn’t know why, but she was never good with being around emotions.

“No, no, please don’t cry! I...I can fix it. Just, just give me a moment okay. What spell was it that mom always did for my cuts...Ah! I got it.”  
In the midst of Penelope waving her hands around Josie, pacing back and forth, and freaking out about what to do, Josie looked up from her hand and the tears began to subside. Something about this little girl’s eyes made her feel safe in all the commotion. Penelope took Josie’s small hand softly and began muttering an incantation over it. Josie could feel a friendly warmth radiating from the cut. She couldn’t help the fleeting thought that, up close, Penelope smelled like vanilla and her eyes had little gold flecks when the sun hit them just right. 

Soon enough, the cut began healing as Penelope continued to whisper her short spell over and over again. What was left was a small crescent scar, just at the jut of her palm. Josie was in awe.

“There, that should do it,” Penelope said. She was still holding Josie’s hand up and brought it towards her for a small kiss. 

“Mom says that love is the best magic of all and that the only way to finish fixing pain is with a kiss.” Penelope wiped away some of Josie’s drying tears with a crooked grin.  
“All better?”  
“Yeah...all better.” Josie was mesmerized as Emma finally made her way over with Lizzie in tow.  
“Wow, Penelope, great work!” Emma was impressed, not very many witches could practice healing magic as young adults, let alone a 5 year olds that had no formal training. She better keep tabs on the growth of this young and talented witch.  
“Penelope...” Josie tried out loud for the very first time. She felt warm and, looking at Penelope’s crooked grin, she knew that this would be the start of something important. She just couldn’t quite put her finger on it yet.  
  
Josie and Penelope were inseparable after that day at the planter. Josie was amazed that there was someone so cool that loved plants as much as she did, laughed at all her little jokes, and listened intently when she was telling any of her stories from the earlier summer. Unfortunately, Lizzie was not having it. You leave your twin sister alone for two minutes to get them some help and what does she do? She goes and betrays you, leaving you for someone else. 

Needless to say, Penelope Park and Lizzie Saltzman did not get along very well. Things weren’t extreme, but if there was an odd number of explosive glue bottles or times when Penelope went to sit down, only to fall back onto the floor of a Salvatore School classroom, no one would fess up. To Penelope’s credit, she didn’t ALWAYS retaliate, though she was 100% burning with a hardcore passion to. Josie Saltzman was easily the best person in her life, besides her mom and little brother, Theo. Penelope could just tell from small conversational spats with Lizzie that Josie always felt torn to either defend Penelope or side with her sister. No matter. Penelope would always prioritize her best friend’s feelings, no matter what.

Today, Emma had a new trick to teach the fifth grade class: illusion spells. As always, Josie partnered up with Penelope while her sister sat next to her most recent schoolgirl crush. 

“Jojo, what are your plans for the big annual Fall Festival tomorrow?” Penelope whispered, while Emma began describing the illusion spell’s power and scope.

“I don’t know, Penny. My mom is supposed to be coming back to town so we might go as a family,” Josie said regretfully. Josie wasn’t a stranger to the fact that Penelope had a hard time at home. When they were in first grade at the school pool one summer, Josie saw a deep, purple bruise peeking near the lower back area of Penelope’s swimsuit. When Josie asked how she got the bruise, Penelope immediately shut off and Josie didn’t know what to do. Nothing about the sweet, soft smiling Penelope Park had ever caused her to shut Josie out before. The two girls were thick as thieves and shared everything. At least, that was what Josie thought. It was the first time that Josie was confronted with the fact that maybe she couldn’t protect Penelope from what the rest of the world could throw at them. Josie shook it off at the time. All she knew was that Penelope was right there and she would never let anyone hurt her ever again. Josie firmly believed that one day, Penelope would let her in when the time came. That summer, Penelope’s mom left Mystic Falls with Theo to live with extended family and Penelope became a full-time boarder, just until her mom could settle their situation. Eventually, they returned when Mrs. Park was able to find a decent job that paid just enough to make it month to month for three mouths.

Penelope’s soft and sad eyes betrayed the smile that she wore on her face. 

“Aw, Josie, that’s awesome. It’s been some time since you’ve seen your mom right? Well, would you at least save me a ride on the Ferris wheel? I heard that the fireworks show is going to be epic this year..and I know how much you love them,” Penelope finished with a crooked grin. The two best friends had made it an annual ritual to watch the show together. Nothing was as religious to Josie as a good ole fireworks show.

“Of course, Pen. I would love to.” Josie adored Penelope and the two girls were startled to find that the rest of the class had already begun experimenting with the new spell.

The next day after classes, the Salvatore school was buzzing with excitement over the Fall Festival that would be taking place later that night. Lizzie was busy helping set up the games booths with Rafael. Hope was assisting Emma with enchanting the fireworks in preparation for the big show later that night while Landon provided moral support by munching on a gigantic turkey leg.

In the end, Caroline Forbes was unable to attend the festival due to a recruiting visit in England. The twins were crestfallen, but they spoke with her via video chat for hours and that softened a bit of the blow. A few hours later, as the sun got lower in the sky, Josie exited the car with her dad and Emma to the air of the crisp night. The trio was to meet up with Lizzie at the fair’s animal pen so that Josie could play with the local goats. From there, they shopped around the local vendor stalls, scanned the art exhibit, and grabbed some fair food. Josie was having an amazing time with her family. Josie felt like these days, that time was becoming more and more precious. However, she couldn’t help herself, constantly scanning the crowd for a girl just three inches shorter than her, curly raven hair, and eyes that made her feel at home. Penelope was supposed to be meeting her later that night, just as the sun was setting so that they could watch the fireworks together. Fortunately, Josie was only a few stalls away when she caught a glimpse of the back of Penelope’s head as Penelope made her way towards the Ferris wheel. Unfortunately, there were 50 people on the path to where Josie wanted to go. Being 5 ft tall was not very useful in the middle of a large crowd. Josie politely maneuvered her way around, trying to gain on her best friend. Once she got to the Ferris wheel, Josie frowned. The girl from the Mystic Falls elementary school across town had her arm hooked through Penelope’s.

“When did they become friends?” Josie thought to herself. There was a feeling Josie was experiencing that she didn’t necessarily want to label quite yet. Josie pushes the thought away. Penelope had never given her a reason to feel second best to anyone. The only thing Josie’s ever felt from her was comfort and a sense of belonging. When Caroline or Alaric were away on house calls or recruiting missions for the school, Penelope would invite Josie over to her small house on the edge of town. Theo was the most adorable six year old that Josie had ever met, minus the first time Josie met Penelope. The two siblings shared so much in common, from their obsession with video games to their taste in junk food, as well as their competitive anger when playing board games to their love of soccer. Josie couldn’t help but love their matching crooked grins and lively, green eyes. Having spent the majority of her childhood growing up on the floor of the Park family living room, eating homemade chocolate chip cookies, crying about the latest drama at school, yelling about how neglected her parents made her feel, venting about her relationship with Lizzie, Josie had always associated their family as her own. Even without Penelope, Mrs. Park stood as an amazing adult figure in her life with an amazing ability to listen and make Josie feel seen and understood.  
However, it was with Penelope that everything just clicked together. She was the glue that made everything work in Josie’s eyes and it would take something as simple as a small wiggle of the eyebrows from Penelope to get a giggle out of Josie. Penelope always seemed to know how to chase a bad day away.

This is precisely why Josie is completely unsuspecting of the torrent of emotions that immediately wash over her while she sees Penelope shortly glance around, as if looking to pick out her best friend from the crowd, while Dana drags her towards the Ferris wheel just as the sun is setting. From close up, Josie would have been able to tell that Penelope was uncomfortable with this turn of events. Penelope did not want to be on this Ferris wheel with Dana from the opposing school’s soccer team, of all people. She had made a promise to Josie and in her entire short life, she had not ever broken a single one. Now, badass Penelope Park doesn’t like to admit it, but there was just something about how caring Josie Saltzman was that made it feel like sacrilege to ever betray her. Josie was her best friend in the entire world and she would be damned if anything got in between them.

Dana was rattling on about the most recent game in which Penelope scored the game winning goal and Penelope could not care any less. Unfortunately, Dana refused to leave her side without getting at least one Ferris wheel ride out of Penelope. What Penelope didn’t see was that Dana bribed the ride operator to stop them just at the top of the wheel so that they could watch the Fall Festival fireworks. 

Josie turned away with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach and she immediately went to go find Lizzie and Hope. Penelope was a few feet off the ground the second that she saw Josie turn away with an upset disposition. The ride stopped right at the top and the fireworks rang off.

Everyone at the festival began to oooh and ahhh at the spectacular light show. This year, Hope and Emma did a real number. 

“I hope you don’t mind the delay, Penelope...I’ve been waiting to get you alone all day.”

“I actually do mind, Dana. You didn’t think to ask me if I had plans to watch the fireworks show with anyone else before you attempted to kidnap me?” Penelope was irritated and distracted. The only thought on her mind was how upset Josie looked. She must have thought Penelope forgot about their annual ritual. 

Dana’s face didn’t fall. If anything, she felt more comfortable in front of the more savage side of Penelope. On the field and off the field, she would happily oblige. If anything, it was what led to the huge crush she was harboring for the raven haired girl. While Penelope was looking down toward the rest of the activity down below, Dana began speaking.  
“Well, honestly, I thought you’d be a little more grateful that I’m even giving you the time of day.”  
“Honestly, Dana, I don’t give a rat’s a—-“  
Penelope was cut off with a kiss to the lips as Dana’s disgusting mouth was pressed up to her own.  
“What the fuck, Dana? Ask a girl for fucking consent, damn it! I’m sorry, but I don’t like you like that and I don’t think I ever will.”

On Josie’s end, Josie was not fairing any better. She missed the fireworks, she couldn’t find any of her friends or family members, and she was starting to freeze. She really should have brought a coat to wear tonight. She decided to wait at the picnic tables just under the line of pine trees near the parking lot so that she could join up with her family once they made their way back. She was thinking about her odd reaction to what happened earlier. Penelope had never missed any agreement to spend time together before. That must explain why Josie was so hurt. It definitely wasn’t Dana’s arm looped around here and it definitely couldn’t be how close she was whispering to Penelope’s ear.

Josie took the opportunity to close her eyes and breathe the brisk air in. Any opportunity to cut the growing tension in her heart was a welcome reprieve. Josie heard a few steps to her right and just brushed it off as another fairgoer.

“...hey, Jojo, I didn’t see you by the Ferris wheel? Everything alright?” Penelope said apprehensively. When did she start getting nervous around Josie?

Josie kept her eyes closed, not quite ready to part with the peace she was granted with earlier. “Oh, you must have been too busy with Dana.” Damn it. There went all the subtlety. Josie finally opened her eyes. Even while frowning, Penelope Park always looked like home. “...gosh, I’m sorry, Pen. I don’t know why I’m acting this way. It just really bothered me when I didn’t get to watch the fireworks show with you this year. If you wanted to spend it with someone else, you should have told me,” Josie explained, immediately sorry for her passive aggressive tone from earlier.

“Josie, look at me.” Penelope grabbed Josie’s face in her two hands. She had never looked smaller. “Aside from my family, you are the only person that matters to me. You’re my best friend in the whole world. You may not have seen it, but I did everything I could to get away from that crazy girl... to be honest, she even kissed me.” Penelope stayed, a little confused about what it all meant. She had never really thought about the implications of liking anyone or being liked back. 

“Oh.” Josie was conflicted. For what reason, she didn’t know, but she could feel that she was on the precipice of something important again. Very similar to that first day she met Penelope. “Did you...enjoy it?”

Penelope took some time to reflect. “No, definitely not. It was wet and a little sloppy. Is that how a first kiss is supposed to be?”

“I guess so? I haven’t had one myself, so I’m not exactly an expert.”

“Well, regardless, she made me miss our yearly ritual...so,” Penelope smirked, “I’ve got a surprise for you. Close your eyes.”

Josie, already feeling better about her place as Penelope’s best friend, couldn’t help but roll her eyes and grin at the twinkle in Penelope’s golden-green eyes. “Alright, alright, charmer.” Josie closed her eyes.

Penelope placed her hands on Josie’s back, muttered an incantation, and gave a flick of her hands for good measure. “Okay, Jojo...go ahead and open them.”

Josie did as she was asked and she was immediately in awe. Before her very eyes, she saw dozens of multicolored fireworks on the backdrop of an entire galaxy, shooting stars whizzing by in greens, blues, and purples. She turned her eyes over to the girl she absolutely adored to find Penelope’s soft gaze. It seems like she hadn’t stopped staring at her reaction since the moment she cast the spell. 

Penelope couldn’t turn away, even with the spectacle before her. Watching Josie always seemed to come first and she couldn’t help but cast her eyes towards Josie’s smile.

Josie could have sworn she saw Penelope’s eyes turning towards her lips. Her heart thudded in her chest.

Penelope shook herself out of her trance and smiled back at Josie, finally going in for a hug. “I’m sorry about tonight, Jojo. I hope this makes up for it.” Something about the hug felt heavy and full of meaning that words alone couldn’t have described. Penelope tried to put all of her emotions into the embrace.

Josie smiled into Penelope’s shoulder, returning the embrace in kind. “I love you, Pen. No need to apologize.”

The duo remained, as if no one else in the world existed. Alaric and Emma we’re standing by the treeline, smiling at the two. 

“Do you think those two realize they have feelings for each other yet?” 

“It’ll probably take getting hit by an emotional truck for them to figure it out with how dense they are, Ric.”

“What? No, you gotta give them more credit than that. I bet you they’ll figure it out by sophomore year.”

“Are we betting on your daughter’s love life now?” 

“Better Penelope than any other gross teens.”

“...okay fine, senior year then.” 

“You’re on.”

“Loser takes all twin “emergency” calls for the year”

Alaric and Emma shook hands, with Josie and Penelope none the wiser.


	2. A Night Under the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some very short mentions of domestic violence, but nothing specific. Please take care of yourselves.
> 
> Thank you so much for all of the kind comments! I’m going to post this now before I leave the country for the next while!

“Penelope! Josie’s here!” Mrs. Park announced to the rest of the Park family household with a knowing smirk on her face while she opened the front door to let Josie in. It was the summer before Freshmen year and Josie had just got back from a weeklong road trip with her family. Josie couldn’t explain why fidgety she was the entire way up the front steps of the home she practically grew up in, but something in her was apprehensive about all of the time she spent apart from Penelope. She cast away those thoughts when she saw Penelope’s crooked grin...with an extremely fresh busted lip. It seems that the cut from the bottom left lip shortly stopped and then continued further on to her chin. Josie and Mrs. Park’s smiles quickly turned into looks of concern.

“Jojo! Hey,” Penelope said easily.

“Penelope Park, what in Merlin’s name did you do to your face?” Josie demanded. Mrs. Park suddenly quieted and gave Penelope a questioning gaze. Penelope returned the look with a small shake of her head. Josie was a little confused, but having grown up with Penelope, it wasn’t uncommon for Penelope to have cuts and bruises... Whatever results she could achieve would pale in comparison to the interrogation Josie was about to launch. Mrs. Park spared one last fond glance at the two young witches, a fleeting thought of what the future would hold for them, seeing how enamored they were with each other. Parks weren’t the luckiest with love, but they loved with a fierceness grander than a hundred loves combined.

Penelope winced at Josie’s tone.  
“Jo, I really don’t want to say...”

“Penny.”

“....IwastooexcitedtohearyouwalkingupthedrivewaysoIranintothedoorwithmyface.”

Josie paused too sift through the jumble of words and then broke out into pure, full-bodied laughter when she deciphered it all. She stepped in closer to Penelope and placed a hand on her cheek, the other hand finding her way to her best friend’s hip. “Oh, Penny, how the mighty have fallen. You’re sweet. And I’ve absolutely missed you,” Josie finished, closing in for a hug.

Penelope flushed red, her heart rate increasing. The intimacy between Josie and her was not anything new, but this reaction most definitely was. Penelope quickly pulled back and immediately felt guilty. Since the day Josie stepped foot into Penelope’s life, there wasn’t a single moment that made her doubt her love for the girl. Every hug felt like home. Recently though, something about their interactions shifted. It felt almost seismic in nature. If Penelope had to attribute an analogy to it, it was like magma under the earth’s crust. Always in motion, always present, always warm and powerful. Now, it felt like that molten lava was forcing its way to the surface, engulfing everything in it’s path with no discretion.

“Is anything wrong, Pen?” Josie looked concerned, her arms outstretched, her hands still loosely entwined behind Penelope’s neck. Josie had to look down a few inches. Penelope never quite hit her growth spurt while Josie shot up like a beautiful, Greek goddess.

Penelope shook the thought off. “Yeah, Jojo, I’m just happy you’re home,” Penelope offered with a smile. The sun just about finished setting and the stars began to peek out near the backyard. Penelope grabbed Josie’s hand and began to pull toward the sliding door of the backyard. “Are you down for sleeping under the stars tonight? I think your favorite constellation, Corvus, should be easy to spot.”

Josie brightened at the proposal, all thoughts of the momentary awkwardness out of mind. “What about your favorite, Pen?”

“Sadly, we won’t be able to see Castor and Pollux tonight, but as long as I’ve got you, I’m not complaining.”

A few hours later, the two girls began winding down after depleting their energy over the latest town gossip, listing the funniest moments of their summer vacation, and naming every single star they saw something ridiculous. They were content, lying down on the Park’s family trampoline, staring out into the night sky.

The two best friends settled into a comfortable silence, feeling small against the universe at large. Josie began mindlessly tracing random shapes into the back of Penelope’s hand with her thumb. Penelope’s breath shortened, her heart quickening in pace.

Penelope stole a glance and Josie’s deep, soulful eyes were...anchoring as they drank in the world around them.  
Josie caught her mid-stare with a wry smile, “Pen, quit it.”

“What?” Penelope shook out of her state.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I...hung the stars myself or something.”

Penelope, with a mockingly scandalized gasp, “You mean you didn’t?”

Josie playfully pushed her face away after Penelope changed her gaze to a jokingly, pointed stare. 

Penelope winced, a flash of real pain flickering across her face. “Ouch, you wound me, woman.” Penelope attempted to joke, distracting from the pain.

Josie realized that Penelope was still in pain from the previous cuts caused by running her face into a door. “Oh, Pen, I’m so sorry! Gosh, I’m useless, I don’t even know how to heal your cuts.”

“Hey...Jojo. Look at me.” Penelope put a finger under Josie’s chin to get her to look up, searching her eyes and finding guilt and embarrassment swimming in them.

“Where’s this all coming from?”

Josie broke the intimate eye contact in favor of gazing back up at the sky. Something about offering her insecurities to the comfort of the night made the truth easier to handle.

“I don’t know, Pen...you’re just so...you. Intelligent, loving, charming...You’re the brightest witch of our year and I’m just some siphon girl that doesn’t even have her own magic. Sometimes, I feel like I’m just not even on the same playing field.”

Penelope took a moment to digest this information from this gorgeous soul she’s loved since the moment she met Josie in the garden of Salvatore years ago. 

“Josie Saltzman, there’s a mirror in the bathroom if you need to get a better look at yourself, you know.”

“Pen,” Josie admonished the antics of her best friend.

“Seriously though, Jojo,” Penelope looked up to the sky. “You have given me so much strength and courage to move past all of the labels the world has tried to place on my family and me. When my father...hurt us, physically...mentally...you were there, encouraging the self-love that I wasn’t even sure I deserved at the time....When I first showed up here, you were the first person that didn’t leverage any unfair expectations. You gave me the courage to pursue what I wanted, not whatever dream someone else thought was best. When I invited you into what was previously a broken family, your kindness was healing. Now, our family is yours too. You’re my best friend and an honest to god force multiplier of love and kindness. I am in awe of you, Josie Saltzman.” Penelope hesitated, a truth on her lips that she’s subconsciously known for a long time.

“And I love you.” Penelope was surprised that she tried to pour every ounce of feeling she could into those three words. Something about it was different then every time they exchanged those words in the past. In the warm, summer blanket of night, it was all too easy to confess.

Josie, for all her worth, didn’t register the change in tone, though Penelope was waiting for any kind of reaction at all, biting on her bottom lip in agony.

Josie embraced her, for how long, no one cared enough to keep count. For tonight, that was enough to satisfy Penelope. Though she was a train tumbling toward a grand truth, tonight, all she wanted was her best friend.

After Josie grounded herself, she pulled back, “teach me then, Pen. Those cuts won’t do.”

Penelope then launched into the finer details of casting a small healing spell. 

“Alright, Jojo. Go ahead and siphon some magic from me.”

Josie turned red and hesitant. “...”

“Jo, come on, it’s not like I’m asking you to undress me or anything.”

“Well, it’s just a little intimate, okay?” Josie huffed.

“Well, I guess it’s a no go then.”

“Wait.” Josie refocused her thoughts and placed the fingertips of her right hand on Penelope’s chest. Suddenly, Penelope felt as though her heart was on a string, slowly being pulled in a direction she was not privy to. She felt her own magic coursing through this tether, slowly being drained. Her head and body felt lighter, and Penelope was blindsided by the rush of endorphins that accompanied the siphon’s soft, red, glowing hand. Conceptually, Penelope understood that Josie was simply drawing magic to conduct the spell, but now that she’s on the receiving end, she wasn’t surprised by Josie’s earlier hesitation to siphon magic. There was something emotionally charged and powerful about sharing magic.

Penelope saw Josie’s eyes glaze over with...was that pleasure? 

Penelope was able to get her thoughts together and break the intense eye contact. “Repeat after me, ‘Dulcis Sanitatem’ “

Josie touched her thumb to Penelope’s lip, the rest of her fingers gingerly placed along Penelope’s jawline, eyes still somewhat dazed.

Penelope felt her face warm, comfortably. She knew it was due to the healing magic, but was also concerned about what she was sure was a mad blush.

“All done,” Josie said softly. During the exchange, her face seemed to drift closer, eyes still fixated, hands still framing Penelope’s cheek. 

A small scar formed on Penelope’s lower left lip, the cut on her chin now also a matching white, crescent moon, similar to the cut on Josie’s palm. Something broke Josie out of her reverie. She must have been tired from the day and the advanced healing magic Penelope taught her.

“Thanks for teaching me, Pen,” as Josie turned her face in to burrow against Penelope’s chest. “...I love you too, you know.”

Penelope knew in that moment that there had to be gods and they had to be cruel. Penelope reflected on her heavy heart, trying to make sense of all these newfound feelings that seemed to have always existed. It just took until now for her to realize what they actually meant in the context of her relationship with her best friend. Penelope decided to always be whatever it was Josie needed her to be. When Josie’s breathing evened out and Penelope was sure the girl had fallen asleep, she placed a kiss to her temple and joked, “Josie, if in 20 years we’re not happily in love with anyone else, you better make good on your fever-promise to me from 5th grade.”

“Duh, Pen. Of course I’m going to end up marrying you,” Josie sleepily murmured. Penelope was sure she was on her way to the dreamland and that she was just referring to their dumb childhood promise. 

Penelope knew that, but her heart betrayed her by skipping and racing in her chest.

“Teenagers in love are gross. It’s you and me forever.” Josie finished.

“Yeah, Jojo. It’s you and me forever.” With that, Penelope drifted off into sleep, a smile on her face and her best friend cuddled close.


	3. New Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie and Penelope hit high school and with it comes feelings they weren’t prepared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I was away for work and couldn’t upload with my WiFi access. There are a few small jokes about Josie’s thing with fire. Also, if you’ve never watched The Runaways on Hulu, you absolutely should! Thanks for all of the kind words. I’m trying to work on my consistency and grammar in my writing. 
> 
> The chapter that I’ll be uploading next could come as soon as tomorrow. I’m not really liking the trajectory in it right now. Hopefully, I’ll narrow something down soon.

It was sophomore year of high school and Josie was just getting out of her father’s silver Range Rover. Somewhere in the background, Lizzie was talking her father’s ear off about the changes to the school’s decor that they would just HAVE to employ. Having spent the summer with her mother and Lizzie in Europe, she was sad to leave, but excited to return to Salvatore. Penelope and Josie had exchanged postcards and texts as often as they could. Penelope had participated in an all-witch camp for advanced magic. Emma had noticed her affinity for learning and decided to mentor the young witch over the years. With Penelope’s mother working multiple shifts in the summer, her mother thought it best to support Penelope and Theo in their summer study camp endeavors by sending them to stay at the Salvatore School. If it was easier to feed one mouth than three at home, the trio refused to admit it. They were simply thankful for their little family and the opportunity that the Salvatore School provided. The two Park children were on a scholarship program at the boarding school, though they lived just on the edge of the same town. It helped with covering costs around the house. 

Josie, having missed the Park girl in question all summer, had only one mission in mind: find Penelope Park.

The siphon was surprised to have missed the witch so much. It was the first time they hadn’t spent even a day of summer together since befriending each other, but they had spoke about it beforehand. Nothing would get in the way of their friendship.

Three Months Earlier  
“Jojo, when you’re traveling through Europe with your family, don’t you dare forget me,” Penelope said with an easy smile to mask the small bit of anxiousness she felt. Though she meant to say it as a joke, a small part of her always gave way to the insecurity she felt about Josie possibly leaving her one day and everything changing. There was something about long trips during the summer and the start of a new school year that made things feel like a chapter was ending in her life.

“Penny, I could never forget you. Not even if I tried.” Josie gave her a soft smile. The girl worried too much for her own good.

Penelope felt reaffirmed. “Okay, but you have to send me pictures of all the amazing fashion. I’m so jealous.”

And just like that, the girl’s insecurities vanished and the two best friends continued on giggling and exchanging hopes and wishes for the coming year.

Present time 

It was noon and Josie had still not found Penelope. Her all-witch advanced magic course had surely finished for the summer. Where could that girl be? 

After what felt like ages, Josie decided to take a walk by the garden. A few of the younger grade schoolers were running around playing tag. Josie couldn’t help the smile that found its way to her lips.

She was enjoying the peace of the sun hitting the colorful garden. That is, until she saw someone in a gray tank top and ratty jeans kneeling down near her purple lillies. 

Josie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Everyone in school knew that it was near sacrilege to touch her favorite flowers without her permission. Though they were a resilient bunch, she spent her entire childhood growing those with care, enjoying their bloom with every passing year. 

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing? You’ve got a lot of nerve touching what doesn’t belong to you.”

The stranger turned around and Josie got a better look at...her.

The stranger turned out to be the girl she was scouring the school for all morning, Penelope. Something about Penelope’s eyes were off though. They were still a gorgeous gold and green color, but there was something misplaced now...something colder at the edges. However, the second that she saw Josie, they softened immediately. 

“Hey, Jojo,” Penelope said with a wry smile. Penelope excitedly came in to embrace her. 

Josie was a little surprised, but finally caught herself at the last second, in time to return the hug with everything she had. It felt a little...different to Josie. She pulled back to get a good look at Penelope and realized why it felt a little strange.

Penelope had grown at least half a foot during the summer time. Josie used to always have the true height advantage in all of their previous hugs, having to reach down and hold Penelope’s shoulders. That seems to have permanently changed, Josie’s hands now easily reaching around the curve of Penelope’s hips.  
Penelope seemed to have spent a little more time outside, proven by the sunkissed skin and toned musculature. With Penelope’s tight fitting muscle tee, Josie could make out a few more curves than she was used to on her best friend.

“Jo...Jojo! What are you staring at?” Penelope laughed, a little self-conscious now that her best friend seemed to wear a distant face. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Josie gathered herself, a light blush dusting her cheeks. “Pen, I’m always happy to see you. I missed you so much.” And just like that, everything was as easy as coming home. Penelope had explained to her that she was just pulling some weeds that happened to be growing near her favorite flowers and Josie’s heart thudded a little harder when Penelope said that she did it because she knew how much Josie loved them.

Josie was a little confused about what she was feeling. She was expecting the little girl that she grew up with, but all of the soft cheeks and long curls turned into a sharp jaw, a rebellious lob, and an annoyingly attractive smirk that she was having trouble associating with her childhood best friend. 

With Penelope’s hand in hers, she shook the confusion off to pay attention to catching up with her best friend about her summer. After detailing what monuments, art exhibits, and fashion boutiques Josie saw, as well as all of the new spells Penelope was able to learn over the summer, Josie noticed Penelope ghosting her thumb over the scar Josie got when she was 5 at this very garden. Penelope, finally aware of what her hand was subconsciously doing, pulled her hand back as if she just touched a hot stove.

Both of them, a little short of breath, brought their eyes up to each other.  
Just as Penelope was about to say something, a bleached blonde, Asian girl Josie vaguely remembered from the school’s soccer team gave a cool wave and smirk as she walked by the garden bench they were seated at.

Penelope returned it with a duck of her head and an small smile.

“Okay...what just happened?” Josie said, intrigued and confused.

“Well, her name’s Anya. She’s from the soccer team.”  
Penelope looked down at her shoes, not exactly knowing how Josie would respond.

Josie found herself upset and she didn’t know why. “Oh. Are you...into her?”

“No! We’re just...casual.” There goes that gaze again in Penelope’s eyes. Josie was finally able to pinpoint what it was. Guardedness. Josie looked down to her hands in her lap, fiddling with the string at the bottom of her plaid skirt. Josie couldn’t tell if it was Penelope’s reluctance to share or her newfound interest in sexual endeavors. It’s never come up before, but it wasn’t like Josie was unaware that the girl may have been into other girls. Josie was supportive no matter what, but something just didn’t sit well with her.

Penelope took her hands, “Hey, that doesn’t matter now. You’re back and my mom and Theo can’t wait to see you again.”

Josie smiled and the two best friends took the opportunity to use the rest of the summer day outside catching up. 

A few months passed and the school year was well underway. It turned out that the rest of Salvatore noticed the magic fairy of puberty visited her best friend and Josie was happy for Penelope...or so she thought. She was understanding of the fact that Penelope was exploring her sexuality. Josie knew that no one had caught Penelope’s eye enough to take things beyond overt come ons and short hook ups, but it was a side of Penelope that she had never really seen before. Penelope’s quick wit, humor, and observant nature used to be exclusively for Josie. Now, she was quickly becoming the school’s head witch in charge and Josie didn’t really know where that left her. Her sister, Lizzie, wasn’t helping either. They were both incredibly close still, but the only consolation Lizzie had to offer was a, “the best way to distract yourself is to get someone of your own, Jo.” Hope chimes in as well, “Maybe that’s what you need. Penelope will always be your best friend, but maybe you don’t have to let your friendship with her be so defining.” In all honesty, it didn’t matter what girl Penelope was with, Penelope would drop them and give all of her undivided attention to Josie if she was around. For whatever reason though, Josie was having trouble sharing the giggles and the soft gazes that used to exclusively be for her.

That morning, MG had been raving about a brand new comic tv adaptation and the twists in some show called, ‘The Runaways,’ when a boy named Rafael from third period Magical Creatures came up to Josie.

“Hey, Josie...” the young wolf approached apprehensively.

“Hey, Raf, what’s up?” Josie said fondly. The two had been great partners on a yearlong project for that class and they had struck up an easy enough friendship. 

On the couch opposite Josie, Penelope turned away from her posse and tuned in to the conversation in front of her.

“Well, I’ve been meaning to say that I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you in class. I was wondering if you’d be willing to go to that party with me at the old mill tonight.”

Josie thought about it for a second. Rafael was good looking and kind. She hadn’t really seen him in that light, but her slight irritation at seeing Penelope dating around was bothering her. Maybe she just needed to experience something herself and see what all the fuss was about.

“Sure, Raf, I’d like that,” Josie said sincerely.

Rafael smiled brightly and said his goodbyes after coordinating a meet up time.

Penelope overheard the conversation between the siphon and the wolf, a small frown gracing her face.

Hours after classes ended and the sun set low in the horizon, Josie was in her room getting ready for the party with Lizzie and Hope. The shorter brunette was in a red, plaid skirt and a grey tank top, antsy about the forced socialization that was about to happen later that night. Josie noted how odd it was that whenever Lizzie was around, Hope seemed to follow suit. She’d have to remember to ask Hope about it later.

Josie herself was dressed in high waisted black shorts, white converse high tops, and her black letterman’s jacket. Hope was graciously doing a close braid for Josie on the right side of her head.

Lizzie herself was just about done changing into a yellow summer dress with sunflowers, the bottom of it stopping just above the knees, the dress accentuating the color of her white, leather sandals on her feet.

The trio soon took off for the forest, Josie shooting a response to Rafael that she was finally on her way. 

The party was in full swing by the time that they arrived. It seemed like the wolves were doing a keg stand out by the back of the house and the witches were smoking weed closer to the bonfire. The vampires were lingering on the roof, sipping on some homemade bloody marys. Josie would remember not to ask for one of those. Josie found herself wondering who Penelope would be with tonight.

Lizzie and Hope dropped Josie off with Rafael once they spotted him closer to the fire. The night went on relatively well. Josie found out that Rafael never really had a family growing up, aside from Landon, and that Salvatore was the closest thing he had to a home his entire life. Josie found herself easily making conversation and laughing along with some of the crazy stories Rafael shared about him and Landon. It was simple and easy, yet Josie couldn’t help but think something was missing. Her fingers itched to text Penelope, but she tried to take Hope’s advice. Maybe what she recognized as friendly jealousy would go away if she could further define her relationships outside of her friendship with Penelope. Something about the girl was always so...engulfing and grand. Like you were on the edge of the world, about to find out the secret to the universe, but, for whatever reason, it escaped you time and time again. You saw just enough to continue wanting more. You were constantly chasing and satisfied with just that. Except now, Josie was realizing maybe she wasn’t that satisfied anymore and she didn’t know why. Penelope was always enough, so was it the context of their relationship that bothered her? She shook off the thought and tried to refocus her attention on Rafael. She realized that she actually did enjoy his smile and company.

If Josie looked closer to the treeline, she would have made out her best friend in question sneaking looks at the couple by the fire. Penelope herself was somewhat distracted from the conversation she was having with a blonde, vampire girl named, Sam. 

“You look super hot tonight, P.”

Penelope dragged her gaze to the right, towards Sam. “Thanks, you look incredible too,” Penelope said with a smirk. The muscle tee was actually an old school t shirt Josie accidentally caught on fire one summer and the black, ripped jeans were a result of not wanting to pressure her Mom for new clothes. No one except Josie knew that most of the flashy clothing she wore came from Goodwill. Her focus drifted back towards her feelings for Josie. Those weren’t a surprise. She had known for some time now that she wanted more with the girl. Josie, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to her affection and Penelope was...just fine with that. She had never wanted to risk their friendship for something as dumb as catching feelings for the brunette angel, but her resolve to remain just friends had recently began to crumble after people like Rafael began to take notice of Josie growing out of her awkward teenager phase. It was fine when she had to deal with unrequited love, but, now that she had to share any of Josie’s affection at all... it fucking sucked.

Envy, a feeling Penelope never liked to admit to, began to turn her stomach. So, Penelope did what she did best. Cope by ignoring everything that hurt and covering it up with excitement about party games and more drinking. Amidst the moving bodies and loud music, Penelope allowed herself to numb and her eyes to glaze over with the bliss of pushing problems to another day. If she periodically glanced at the object of her affection, she didn’t admit it.

Eventually, Sam invited her to join up in a game of spin the bottle by the bonfire. Sam took her by the hand towards Rafael, Josie, Hope, Lizzie, Landon, and Jed by the bonfire. Penelope’s face was stoney and she uncertain of what to expect, but that wouldn’t do. Penelope slipped back into the mask of indifference she was starting to get more comfortable with. Josie noticed a shift and frowned at the girl. 

“Who’s up for a game of spin the bottle?!”

Landon spoke up, “Only if we get veto privileges. If you don’t want to kiss, you take a shot.”

A few others voiced an agreement to those terms and conditions.

Josie, who had more time these past few months to see Penelope with various girls coming in and out of her life, turned her eyes to the vampire beside her. Vaguely, she remembered seeing her in her Magical Roots and Herbs class, but Josie never really liked the girl’s presence. Especially now, beside Penelope.

“I’m not sure this is for me,” Josie voiced.

“Don’t worry. If you’re too chicken, there are plenty of other hot options to kiss in this group tonight,” Sam replies, staring straight at Penelope like a lion did a lamb.

Penelope, reading Josie’s face as apprehension and anxiety about the game, gave her a sympathetic look across the loose circle that the group was sitting in. “Jo, we don’t have to play if you don’t want to.”

Josie, downing some liquid courage, gave her a defiant look. In the glint of the fire, Penelope was attracted to her and simultaneously concerned. Penelope had previously noticed that the girl had never spoken about crushes or interests before and speculated that the girl hadn’t had her first kiss.

Josie couldn’t stand the sympathy in Penelope’s eyes. She wanted to evoke something more...fiery. 

Josie did the only thing that made sense in her drunken haze. She turned straight to Rafael and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss itself wasn’t much more than a short, but sweet kiss. It didn’t evoke anything in Josie and it may have been a little awkward, but she appreciated a willing partner to take her mind off of the simmering anger she felt all the same. 

Penelope on the other hand was at a loss. Josie noticed her eyes harden and her face cool into a look of detachment. Sam’s hand was on her thigh.

“Alright then...let the game begin!” Sam says excitedly. She spun the bottle to decide who would be going first. “Looks like you’re up, Michaelson.”

Hope physically cringed and downed a shot of vodka, muttering something about needing to be more drunk for this shit. She eventually took the bottle and spun it with her eyes closed. The bottle landed right on -

“Lizzie Saltzman. Wow. That’s an interesting...combo.” Everyone’s faces were thoughtful for a moment. Hope was confused when the group all seemed to settle on this making sense, oddly nodding to themselves. 

“Uhm.” Hope moves closer to Lizzie who hadn’t really said a thing since the bottle landed on her. “Do you want to initiate or just veto altogether? It’s okay if you don’t want to, you know. I’m not like the worst, but I get that I’m not the best.”  
Hope cringed again, knowing that she sounded like a total dweeb.

“Hope Michaelson, do you ever shut up?” Apprehension evident by the small crease between her brows. She placed her right hand on Hope’s cheek and leaned in to touch lips. Her harsh words a stark difference to the softness of her actions. Hope pulled away somewhat dazed and Lizzie seemed confused herself.

Lizzie spun immediately afterwards, seemingly unaffected. However, the short fault in her demeanor would be obvious to anyone watching closely enough. Lizzie eventually got MG, who ended up spinning on Landon, one of the more laughable pairings that night. From there, Landon spun on Rafael and quickly drank 2 shots to veto. 

“Landon, you only needed to drink one shot to veto,” Rafael noted.

“Nope, nuh uh. Needed two. One to veto, another to wash away the horror of what that could look like.” Rafael smiled at the antics of his best friend.

Rafael ended up spinning and getting Josie. Ever the gentleman, Raf gave a look that asked her for permission. Josie smiled and kissed him in return. 

Across the fire, behind Penelope’s intense look of indifference, was a pain that cracked just along the seams of an already broken heart. Offhandedly, she thought torture didn’t have to be physical. Watching a girl you loved fall for someone else was torture enough.

Josie pulled away with a small smile. She wasn’t one for PDA, but Rafael had kind eyes that made the moment private. She tried to ignore the niggling feeling that she was looking for attention from someone else.

Turning back to the game, she spun the bottle. Slowly, the bottle spun past Lizzie, who looked at the bottle with a grotesque look on her face, past Hope, who looked grateful that she only had to kiss one Saltzman twin tonight, and then landed right on...Penelope.

Penelope had an unreadable look on her face. Without glancing at the girl, she grabbed one of her veto shots and downed it like a pro.

Josie’s face burned with embarrassment. She quietly excused herself and began to quickly walk away.

Hope flashed a knowing look at the retreating girl’s form. Lizzie glared at Penelope, but with slight confusion about what just happened. Rafael got up to follow her, but Landon waved him off and said that maybe right now wouldn’t be the best time.

Sam exclaimed, “Well! Looks like the end of this game.” Turning to whisper to Penelope, “What say we take this party back to somewhere a little more private?”

With Penelope’s eyes swimming with unshed tears that Sam was too drunk to catch, she slipped back into her carefree demeanor, took another shot to mend the hole in her heart, and dove into the deep end of self-destruction by kissing the girl full force.


	4. Selfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the party and the first fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a bit more description regarding the abuse that Penelope experiences in her childhood. It’s done as vaguely as possible due to the context of what age Josie receives an explanation about what happened, but I needed to include enough detail for the reader/Josie to understand it as her older self reflects. Don’t feel compelled to read this chapter. Please practice self-care.

A week went by with radio silence between the witch and the siphon.

Josie had had enough with it. The weeklong break between the two didn’t give any clarity whatsoever. Josie was confused by Penelope and even her own actions at the party the other night. If that wasn’t enough, they also have never had a fight before. Sure, some disagreements in the past, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed with her favorite smile and an embrace that maybe lasted longer than normal.

“I just don’t get it, Hope. Things were never this complicated with Penny before,” Josie stated, plopping down unceremoniously on Hope’s bed. Josie clutched the pillow in her arms a little tighter, a subconscious effort at comforting herself.

Hope looked thoughtful. Her best friend had always been stubborn and particularly difficult at accepting what was right in front of her. A heart of gold, absolutely, but definitely a hardhead, though her sister could give her a run for her money. She had a feeling that Josie was on the cusp of a pretty big self-discovery. She had to phrase her thoughts carefully.

“Well, what do you think changed, Jo?”

“I don’t know. I guess, I always thought we’d stay as each other’s person, you know?”

“...well, what’s getting in the way?”

Josie huffed, “It’s like she’s got a rotating door of girls now and it’s just...so infuriating. I’m asked out by one guy and, all of a sudden, I get the cold shoulder? How’s that fair?”

“Hmm. First of all, it’s not fair. You should be free to date and spend time with whoever you want. However, you should be taking a closer look at why you’re getting that treatment and why you feel so all of a sudden outraged by all of the people in Penelope’s life.” 

“What do you mean?” Josie started to wring her hands in a subconsciously nervous motion. 

“I think that’s for you two to find out together. Lastly, you should consider fixing things with Penelope before you continue dedicating more time to Rafael. It’s not fair to him if he only has half of your attention.” Hope left after that cryptic statement with a sympathetic pat on Josie’s shoulder. 

Josie decided to follow Hope’s advice and find Penelope to talk things out. 

The girl in question seemed to have disappeared and no one had been able to give Josie a solid lead on where she might be at. She wasn’t at a single one of her classes all week. Josie missed Penelope and, with the way things had been going all year, she felt her slipping away. She didn’t know what to do so that led her slamming open Alaric Saltzman’s office door at 7 am on a Sunday.

“Dad, where’s Penelope?” Josie demanded.

Alaric woke up with a start from his awkward napping position at his desk. His hair was disheveled and there was a deep crease where the pen on his desk made a sleep mark.

Alaric blinked away the grogginess of unplanned rest, as if squinting would help him think more clearly. “Uhm, she’s out helping Emma pick up a new student for the elementary branch. Why what’s going on?”

A long time family friend, Penelope was often tasked by Alaric to pick up some of the younger witches that were recruited to the school. Emma had not only noted her affinity for witchcraft and spell casting, but also her affinity for connecting with young students. 

Josie recounted some of the highlights of the last week to her father and how she and Penelope weren’t talking.

“I’m having trouble reaching out to her these days and I just don’t really know what to do.” Josie looked out the window and off into the distance. Her gaze fell to her shoes. “We were never difficult before and I feel like so much is changing. Hope recommended I confess how I feel about Penelope’s dating life,” She huffed our a frustrated laugh.

Her dad held empathy in his eyes. “It’s a new time in your lives, sweetheart. Things inevitably change and with that comes additional challenges. If I could give you any bit of advice, the only way to tackle it is together. Don’t stop reaching out. Other friends may come and go, but if you care enough about her, the rest of the issues fall away.”

Josie walked over to her father quietly to embrace him with a few tears tracking down her face. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Always, baby. Just text Emma and I’m sure she’ll point you towards where Penelope is at. In other news, don’t forget that your mom is coming back to town soon to take over as headmaster. She’s wrapping up the European recruitment circuit to come back home and do some research on Asia. While she’s holding things down around here, I’ll be doing some recruiting in South America. There will be a little overlap with both of us being around for the next while though.”

“That’s right. I’ll miss you so much. I wish I could have both of you here all the time, but I know you’re doing good work.”

Alaric had a far look in his eyes with a twinge of guilt, but his practiced demeanor left Josie none the wiser. If he has to lose a bit of time with her now so that his girls could live the rest of their lives, so be it.

After a quick phone call to Emma, Josie found herself walking toward a worn, red brick apartment building on the southside of town. If Josie was being honest, it looked a little bit rough for wear. 

She followed the instructions Emma left her with slight apprehension and ended up in front of a screen door with the noise of a TV game show leaking outside of the home.

A young, yet worn down looking Latina woman was scurrying around back and forth in the apartment wildly packing with a little boy no older than 7 years standing confusedly in the center of the home next to the couch. He stood in power ranger pajamas and quietly had large tears streaming down his face. He tried to push back his curly hair out of his face to no avail.

Penelope was talking in hushed, quick whispers and the woman whispered back hastily in Spanish. Josie felt frozen to where she was. She didn’t feel it was appropriate for her to walk in at this incredibly intimate moment, but she wasn’t ready to leave due to the heightened amount of emotion. The escalated and rushed environment made her concerned for Penelope and the young boy who was obviously the new recruit.

Josie took another look at Penelope. She seemed to be adamant about something. Penelope read like a book when it came to debate and argument. Passion always graced the furrow of her brow, shoulders always leaning as if about to act, and words so precise they were renown for cutting to the heart of any conversation, sometimes even the heart of the person on the receiving end. 

The young mother threw her hands up in exasperated finality and shoved a small blue backpack into Penelope’s hands. Penelope looked like she had more to say, but the intense conviction in the other woman’s eyes told her she knew that the conversation was over. The two shared a knowing look and the stranger reached out her hand to squeeze Penelope’s free one. 

After a pregnant pause, the woman said goodbye to her son, repeatedly kissing the crown of his head like only a mother would, the both of them gripping the other wildly. Then, the moment was over.

Penelope had the little boy’s hand in hers, the backpack slung over her shoulder, and the screen door suddenly shut behind them.

Penelope saw familiar shoes and trailed her gaze upward to their owner. Their eyes met and Josie hadn’t seen this much raw anguish in Penelope’s eyes in awhile.

Josie was afraid Penelope would be angry at her for finding her here, but she was surprised again by Penelope’s free hand snaking it’s way into hers, a tight grip. Josie tried to pour every bit of comfort she could into the action. 

Josie could tell that Penelope was asking her to not bring it up now. Not in this space, not with young Pedro in tow while he was dealing with his own emotions. However, there was a promise for later that she was satisfied with. The night from a week ago was a far memory. Her father was right. There was too much care and love in this friendship for anything else to get in the way of what mattered most.

The two teens found themselves driving back to Salvatore in the dark of night. Music lulled in the background and Ben Platt’s soft voice was accompanied by a bright guitar.

You say there’s so much you don’t know  
You need to go and find yourself  
You say you’d rather be alone  
‘Cause you think you won’t find it tied to someone else

Ooh who said it’s true  
That the growing only happens on your own  
They don’t know me and you

I don’t think you have to leave  
If to change is what you need  
You can change right next to me  
When you’re high, I’ll take the lows  
You can ebb and I can flow  
And we’ll take it slow  
And grow as we go  
Grow as we go

Josie couldn’t help but think maybe that’s what she needs to do for Penelope. It wasn’t just Penelope that was changing, Josie was too. She wasn’t exactly sure how to navigate their friendship with the awareness that maybe she was more bothered by Penelope dating around than she originally thought. She would need to learn how to not just react with anger when she didn’t come first in Penelope’s life and Penelope had to also stop reacting to any riff in their friendship with shutting down and walking away. Penelope was way too important for the two to fall out. Josie didn’t know how else to convey this other than find Penelope’s eyes and grab her hand in the middle of the song. Penelope’s hard eyes softened.

“I’m sorry, Pen. I don’t know why I ran off that night so angry. Well. I guess that’s not being honest... I kinda do know.”

Penelope’s heart stopped. Something akin to hope was floating in her heart, but she would be a fool to believe this was a confession. She tried to swallow away the dryness in her throat.

“I was angry because I was jealous. This whole year I’ve been trying to cope with sharing you by not dealing with my feelings at all,” Penelope’s stomach flipped, “I’m sorry for not talking to you about it earlier. I just felt like you were becoming another person and that you would forget me or leave me behind. It just took till now for me to realize that that was an unfair assessment. You’ve always made me feel seen and heard. I never gave you the opportunity to showcase how wonderful you were to everyone else. It was selfish of me and I’m sorry.”

So not exactly a confession. Just more blurry lines.

“Jojo, I didn’t even know that this was the cause of what’s been bothering you until now. You are one of the most important people in my entire life. If you needed me, you only needed to ask. None of those girls matter.”

“Then why do you hook up with them?” There it is. That edge to Josie’s tone that both girls didn’t know how to interpret.

“What does it matter to you?” Penelope said, softly challenging. Staring into Josie’s eyes, Josie noticed her guard was back up. Penelope gave in. “I’m sorry. We literally just talked about how we need to stop reacting with anger and defensiveness and I did it again. Mentally, Penelope scolded herself. She knew why she reacted that way. Josie had always blurred the line of friendship and romance for her. Penelope couldn’t blame Josie if it was her own fault for always misinterpreting it. She’ll deal with her stupid and unrequited feelings for the tall brunette another day. There was too much that went on during Pedro’s pick-up for her to tackle that now.

“Can we just not argue about last week and forget it for now, Jo? Tonight was...tough.”

Josie saw that faraway look return to her eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Penelope got quiet. “...Pedro’s mom’s name is Leyla. I noticed some signs of physical and emotional abuse.”

Josie stayed quiet. She knew that this was a touchy subject for Penelope. Her father had been out of her life for some time now, but her family had been marked by trauma and abuse since her father lost his job at the old mine when Theo was born. He lost himself after that and tried to find himself at the end of a bottle of whiskey every few nights. From what Josie gathered from her mom and Penelope, he used to always have kind eyes and a charming smile, not unlike his daughter. The loss of his identity as the primary provider of his family and how tough life had gotten after financially being spread so thin wore him down mentally. That, coupled with a newborn and a free spirited daughter, caused a stress that grated on him. As he coped with alcohol, he created a narrative in his own head that his family judged him. The more he drank, the more disappointed Penelope was. As the frequency increased in Penelope telling her father that she was disappointed in him, the more her father drank and lashed out. It was a vicious cycle and it eventually turned much more physical. Growing up with Penelope, Josie would sometimes find her moving in pain, but she never understood the cause of it until Mrs. Park sat down and talked to Josie about it when she was 7, the summer after Mr. Park exited their lives permanently. It was a night that Josie was sleeping over and she was having a hard time sleeping after a midnight bathroom break. Penelope was much more pensive and muted than she usually was. It was understandable because her father had just left, but Josie never knew the reason why. Though she felt like she was losing Penelope, she didn’t want to pry. At the age of 7, she didn’t have the same communication skills that she has now. Mrs. Park happened to still be awake that night as Josie tried to sneak back to the bedroom with light feet. Mrs. Park offered her some milk and a cookie before going back to bed. Josie happily sat herself on a bar-chair at the breakfast counter.

“I’m glad you two have each other. Penelope’s a little bit of a wild one. I always knew she was strong, but you can’t go through what she went through at her age without having other people help you be strong. I asked your parents for permission to explain a few of these things to you, Josie. I wanted to because the next few years are going to be hard for Penelope if she does it alone. Do I have your permission to continue? This won’t be an easy conversation, but you’ve always been bright. I’m sure you can tell that Penelope has been a little upset these days.”

Josie nodded and looked at her curiously. She had wanted to find out about Penelope’s recent change in demeanor for awhile now. Mrs. Park matter-of-factly recounted the trials of Penelope’s childhood. Sitting at the peaceful kitchen counter, Josie couldn’t help but notice the contrast between where they were at and how terrible the things that the Parks endured were. Josie may have only been 7 years old, but she was bright. Josie began to draw connections between this backstory and the large purple bruises that would peek out from under Penelope’s clothing sometimes. Josie felt stupid for always thinking it was just because she was an active kid. Penelope came to board at Salvatore’s full time last year for a reason. Penelope’s father used fear tactics, apologies, and promises to keep Penelope from telling anyone about the abuse, even her mother. Suffice to say, that was the catalyst for why Penelope got really good at healing spells. One day, her father had thrown Penelope so hard at the glass patio door that Penelope broke a rib when Mrs. Park walked home from work early. She immediately called the police. She grabbed Theo and Penelope, threw what she could into a bag, and left before Mr. Park was able to get into another of his random bouts of violence. Mrs. Park was trying extremely hard to continue through the story, but it was visible that she was shaking and crying. At the time, Josie understood that she blamed herself for not noticing sooner. Josie understood Mrs. Park because Josie blamed herself for not noticing too.

When Mrs. Park finished recounting her hopes for Penelope in the coming years, she told her that her only hope was for Josie to be there to support her if Penelope ever asked for it. Josie felt resolve to always be there for her best friend no matter what.

She retreated to Penelope’s room and their shared bed, quietly lifting the covers and slipping herself under warm sheets. Penelope subconsciously made room for Josie and nuzzled closer as Josie settled. Josie held her a little tighter that night and she wasn’t sure who she was trying to comfort.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts and back to the conversation. “What was the disagreement about?” Josie asked gently.

“I told her that we could get her help to leave completely, not just get Pedro to Salvatore. She wasn’t interested. She believed that her partner could get cleaned up and she was just adamant about Pedro getting the support that he needed to learn his craft. It was too dangerous to have him in the house with his father being so anti-magic.” Penelope’s face was detached and she covered her emotions up by being over engaged with driving and fiddling with the radio.

They finally pulled up to Salvatore, Pedro asleep on Penelope’s back with Josie carrying his backpack. The trio made their way to the elementary dorms and tucked Pedro in with a promise to have Emma show him around tomorrow morning. 

The two girls went out to the courtyard and quietly began their walk to the main house.

Josie found herself outside of Penelope’s room, Penelope turning her back to the open door with her hand lightly grasping Josie’s.

“Would you stay with me, Jojo? I don’t really feel like sleeping alone. I’m not sure I’d be able to.” 

“Of course, Penny.”

Penelope wordlessly brought her inside and began getting ready for bed. Reluctantly, Penelope released Josie’s hand to retrieve a pair of black sweatpants. Penelope left to select a few items to wear for herself while Josie picked out Penelope’s green Salvatore sweatshirt. Josie always loved stealing that old thing. She said that it made her feel like she was constantly being hugged.

It had been some time since the two spent the night together like this. It felt like everything changed since they started the school year. 

They quietly changed, awkwardly trying to avoid all eye contact.

Once both girls were done changing, something in Penelope stirred at the sight of Josie in her clothes and there was a glint in her eyes that Josie didn’t know how to place. 

Josie used magic to get the lights as the two worked their way under the sheets. Penelope was stock still with her hands by her sides like a board while her eyes fixated on a spot on the ceiling. She didn’t know why she felt like she was self-conscious of breathing so audibly all of a sudden, but she gained the sudden impulse to overcompensate it by periodically holding her breath.

She felt Josie’s pinky inch it’s way over to her palm. Eventually, one of them made a move to completely hold hands and Penelope sucked in a breath as quietly as she could. She was conflicted about the feelings she had for her best friend. Her heart hurt at the close proximity and the realization that this was as far as she’d ever be able to have her best friend. Rafael and other people would be the ones to experience all the firsts she wanted to have for herself with Josie. She thought she had been reaching out over the years. Everything she ever did had been to signal to Josie that she wanted more. She just wanted to evoke any reaction from the taller brunette that was more than just friendship. Hell, maybe that’s been the reason for the rotating door of women in her life.

Penelope dared to give one last shot at signaling her feelings to Josie. She turned her head to the side to face the wall away from the girl in question.

“Jo, friends don’t really pass judgment on casual dating. For real though, about what we were talking about in the car...why does it matter so much to you?”

Penelope couldn’t help but hope for a certain answer.

Josie was pensive and she didn’t really have an answer. “I just don’t think they’re good enough for you.” Josie didn’t know why that felt like a half truth.

Penelope huffed out a quiet, cynical chuckle.

“Why did you veto me in that game?” Penelope wasn’t prepared to have a question leveraged back. This was the real question Josie didn’t know she wanted an answer to. It sort of tumbled out of her mouth before she could catch herself.

The darkness provided intimacy for the daring questions that seemed to be the norm for tonight. The night was asking for a confession, but the girls were reluctant to provide.

“Do you like Rafael?” Deflection. Penelope didn’t know if she wanted an answer.

Josie thought about how she got to know him in the last few days and how kind he seemed to be. He had a nice smile and she wouldn’t mind seeing where that went. She told Penelope exactly that.

Penelope bit her bottom lip and chewed on that information for a bit.

“Okay then.”

“Just okay?”

“I’m your best friend, Jojo. If you like him, I’ll support it.” Penelope could do that. She didn’t want to risk their friendship for a what-if. After her dad left, Josie filled in the cracks in her heart. She wasn’t about to risk getting abandoned again due to her selfish desires.

Penelope felt a soft hand on her face pull her out of her thoughts. Josie gently motioned her to turn her head.

Finally, green eyes drowned in brown pools of warmth. Josie was looking for something, but she didn’t know what. Penelope felt even more vulnerable and she looked away toward the pillow that the right side of her head was laying on. 

Josie placed her forehead on Penelope’s and just breathed in. She didn’t find whatever it was she was looking for.

“Okay, then.” 

The silence afterward was painful and sleep evaded them both for a time, but when it came, it was a welcome gift of nothingness.


	5. Not Really a Sweet Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s spring of Sophomore year and Josie’s found herself with Rafael.
> 
> Penelope finds an unexpected confidante in Landon.
> 
> Small glimpses of Hizzie.
> 
> A confusing sweet sixteen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I’m probably moving this story along really slowly as far as plot goes. Now that Caroline’s back in town, I think I can start having things pick back up.
> 
> Thanks for everyone’s kudos/comments and support! It’s been fun writing for this community.

It was spring of Sophomore year and team sports were well underway. There was a buzz of excitement that settled in the student body with the expectation of concession stand snacks, raucous laughter, designer level cheering outfits, and flashy team uniforms.

Though the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted had never won a game in its short life, their students sure knew how to put on a show.

Today’s soccer game was no exception and midfield striker, Penelope Park, was on fire today. Though Mystic Falls High was up 4-2, Penelope was well on her way to a much coveted hat trick. Rachel Peterson from Josie’s third period advanced chemistry class had stolen the ball back from a Mystic Falls’ midfielder. She dribbled it all the way up to the left corner of the opposite field. 

Lizzie cued Josie and the rest of the cheer team to begin the usual chant they used when Salvatore gained the offensive.

Josie went through the well-practiced motions, but her eyes were locked on her best friend. A feeling in her stomach stirred at the intense focus she saw on Penelope’s face as the Park girl ran up to catch a cross field kick.

The crowd was up on their feet and the roaring made it seem like everyone at Salvatore was in attendance, a likely occurrence with it being a home game.

A beat passed and the ball was hurdling through the air. With a jump from Penelope, the ball connected with her head and it met with nothing but net from the opposition’s goal. 

Josie let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and couldn’t help the bright grin at the rowdiness of the crowd that built up in response to the latest goal. 

Josie noticed Penelope trying to find someone in the crowd. It turned out Penelope was looking for her. Once they locked eyes, a quick wink and a smirk from Penelope had Josie rolling her eyes so hard that Hope teased her they’d get stuck in place. Josie’s ears went red.

Penelope jogged backwards to set back up for the rest of the game.

The game ended up at 4-3 with Alaric Saltzman and Caroline Forbes congratulating the Salvatore team on the field, much to the confusion of Mystic Falls High. 

Rafael bounded down the steps of the bleachers and put a gentle hand to the small of Josie’s back to get her attention.

“Hey, Babe.” An easy smile from Rafael.

It seemed like that pulled Josie out of whatever headspace she was in.

“Hey, Raf. Thanks for coming out to support,” Josie returned with her own smile. She put her pom-poms to her side to give him a quick peck on the lips. It seemed to make Rafael’s face brighten up a little more. If the two turned to the side, they’d notice Hope flash Landon a concerned look. Before Landon had enough time to run interference, Penelope had finished gathering her gear up and had run up to the group of friends that formed next to the bleachers.

The Salvatore crowd had already cleared to about half at this point so it was much easier to converse with the reduced noise.

Penelope schooled her face with a practiced smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Landon flashed her a sympathetic look. Penelope and Landon had gotten much closer after everyone left school for Winter break last year. They bonded over late night smoke sessions and shared bottles of whatever they could find around the school. Salvatore kids were not the best at hiding paraphernalia. If Penelope never touched the whiskey they found, Landon didn’t ask. She would be content to smoke while he had the majority to drink those nights. Amidst the drunken, easy conversation and dumb jokes, there would be small confessions here and there. One night, Landon was venting about all the time that Rafael was spending with Josie lately. It wasn’t bitter and much more good-natured so in looking for a partner to play-commiserate with, he turned a question to the stoney faced witch.

“Don’t you feel a little tired of their honeymoon stage, I mean come on guys. Am I right?” Landon finally glanced over to Penelope when he realized there was a break to their easy banter. “Pen? You good?”

Penelope unfortunately had too much champagne that night. The Salvatore kitchen staff had celebrated a retirement that day and the old gal had a soft spot for Landon and Penelope. The two misfits stole away with three bottles of bubbly that were conveniently stored in a picnic basket near the back door of the school kitchen.

“Yeah, man, totally.” Landon noticed a half hearted tone and how it took a beat too long for that response.

Penelope got up from the floor of the roof to sit on the roof’s edge, overlooking the school grounds.

“Pen, I think you’re bleeding.” Penelope’s eyes bugged out, drunkenly.

“What?! Where?”

“Oh shit...it’s just the bleeding heart you’re wearing on your sleeve,” Landon answered with a small bit of mischief in his eyes. Penelope shot him a glare, but her laugh gave her away.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Not in public, Pen, geez. My special time’s a solitary thing, unfortunately for you, you dirty bird.” Landon wore a faux look of bashfulness. Penelope shoved him to the side and lit a new cigarette.

“For real though. I get it, you know.” Penelope gave him a guarded, side-eyed glance.

“What’s that?”

Landon’s eyes cast onto the treeline before him, his elbows on the roof’s edge next to where Penelope was seated. 

“I used to like Rafael when we were kids,” Landon started. He saw Penelope stiffen. He realized he must have hit the nail on the head so he continued carefully, “He and I did everything together. He was always a nice guy. A protector, even for someone that was as scrawny and scrappy as me when I was a kid. One year, he noticed how agitated I had been. Much more than the whole, ‘I’ve been abandoned and alone my whole life,’ angsty vibe that I know I’ve got going on.” The two friends chuckle. Penelope softened at the unexpected confession that Landon was trying to give to make her feel more comfortable.

“He kept bugging me about it, said it would help me feel better if I just let the truth out. So. I told him.” Landon paused before continuing. “And, he gave me a hug to tell me thank you for being honest. His words to me were, ‘fuck, I’m really sorry, Landon...unfortunately, I’m straight.’ The worst part about it all was that he was genuinely apologetic.“

Penelope didn’t know what it was about Landon’s tone and pacing in that story, but for something that rang so painfully true for her, she still found it as funny as he intended to make it sound. Landon told the story like someone who had healed and triumphed would have told it. It was refreshing in the midst of her own turmoil. The two just started chuckling and it turned into stitches of laughter that had them rolling over, gasping for air. Somewhere in it all, Penelope began crying and Landon turned to hold her in a tight hug, Penelope’s head tucked under his chin. 

“Hey, hey, hey, bud. I’m right here.” Landon rubbed circles into her back while she blubbered out the truth and, looking back on that night, Penelope was incredibly grateful that she was able to lay it all bare in such a safe environment. Landon provided a framework to help Penelope heal and be honest. 

That’s what gave her the strength and resolve to stomach Josie and Rafael happily together on the soccer field today. Being the 16 year old that she was, she internally decided that she was going to have more than a few beers and smokes with Landon at the Saltzman twins’ party later tonight. Inevitably, the party would come with a focus on the happy new couple. Penelope didn’t even have it in her to hate the guy. He was too kind for her to be mean. She guessed that love was making that selfish edge of her’s a little dull.

Before the tension could build in the group, Landon took an opportunity to crack a joke. 

“Pen! Is your back in pain??” Landon had a wide eyed, concerned gaze.

“What? No, why would it be?”

“From carrying the weight of the team the entire game,” Landon deadpanned. Penelope snickered. 

Josie left Rafael’s side for a moment and ran ahead of the group to congratulate Penelope on the incredible game she had. Penelope felt the thud of Josie’s body as the siphon ran to her for a tight embrace. Penelope squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to will her feelings away before slowly bringing her arms up to carefully complete the hug. Her arms felt like a frame on a work of art. Penelope could never figure out why these hugs always felt like they lingered on longer than what she normally experienced with everyone else. Her mind was usually a traitor though, always playing tricks on her.

Josie returned to Rafael and leaned half of her body into the crook of her boyfriend’s shoulder when he walked up closer. Rafael shot Penelope a boyish smile and a genuine congratulations. Everyone else followed suit.

Lizzie burst into the group circle after finishing up with the rest of the cheer squad, promising intense shuttle runs for screwing up the formation work from the halftime performance.

“Satan, thank god you’re good for something around here.” 

“Well, hello to you too, Lizzie,” Penelope responded dryly.

“I mean, how is it that NO ONE ELSE knows how to score a goal? We would have won if you had any actual help or talent on that team.”

Josie interjected, “Lizzie, we aren’t supposed to actually win.”

“Win, tie, whatever. It’s just crazy that they have to keep you on the bench till the last half of the game every damn time.”

“Lizzie, was that an actual compliment?” Penelope questioned out loud, mockingly. 

Lizzie completely barreled past the line of questioning, “In more exciting news, is everyone ready for the: Best. Sweet. Sixteen. Party. Of. The. Century.”

The group of friends lovingly shook their heads at the blonde witch’s dramatics. 

“MG is already helping with the speaker system and music set-up for tonight, so everyone, get your best party clothes on! And you,” Lizzie pointed at Penelope, “get yourself cleaned up and try not to smell like a teenage boy.” Penelope scoffed and put a hand on her hip, incredulous. The actual teenage boys in the group tried to sniff their clothes subtly as new concern washed over them.

Landon and Rafael broke off to get changed for the evening. With Lizzie and Hope running off to a corner of the bleachers, Penelope and Josie were the only ones left on the field. Josie grinned when she heard Lizzie shriek. From a distance, she could tell her twin was sopping wet from a bottle of water that Hope threw at her as a joke that went too far. Hope, afraid for her life, began to backtrack away from the scary girl.  
“Babe, wait, it’s me. You love me, right?”

“You are in so much trouble, Hope Mikaelson.” Lizzie leveled a glare that could probably instill fear in an entire army.

Hope turned to run, but just as her back was facing Lizzie, the taller witch jumped on her girlfriend’s back, locked her legs, and began tickling the shit out of Hope.

“Lizzie, I’m sorry! It was an accident,” Hope choked out in between forced laughter, “Please, I’ll do anything! Just stop!”

Lizzie got serious, mirth in her eyes. “Be my first dance tonight.”

Hope gave her a crooked grin over her shoulder as Lizzie positioned herself better for the piggy back ride that Hope was already giving her. “You got a song ready?”

“Mikaelson, I’ve had this entire party planned for the better part of my 16 years of life. No. Duh.”

Hope gave a shy nod, the grin seemingly fixed to her face. 

As Josie and Penelope walked by, Penelope made a sound, mimicking a cracked whip, much to Josie’s amusement. However, the two lovebirds were completely caught up in each other and unaware of the rest of the world.

It gave Josie something to think about as she and Penelope walked back to their rooms with a comfortable silence between the old friends.

She and Rafael had been enjoying each other’s company for a few months now and, as far as first relationships went, she couldn’t have asked for more. He was kind, funny, and easy going. She had heard of nightmare relationships before where the new significant other was controlling and spiteful, but that wasn’t Raf’s MO. He always gave her space when she needed it and he was a comforting presence. He fit well into her friend group and Landon was also a welcome addition that Penelope seemed to take to very well. Looking at Lizzie and Hope though, she couldn’t help but wonder if she and Raf would ever have that kind of love.

“You’ll know when you’ve fallen in love, Jo. It kind of just...hits you.” Hope explained it when she was sleeping over during Winter break the other year. Josie stayed quiet and thoughtful.

“It’s like, you know that life was fine before, but something about having that other person around makes your heart beat faster. The world shifts...to this vivid image of colors you didn’t even know existed. Even with the constant, back and forth pull at your heartstrings, all you know is a feeling of content.”

Lizzie shared a look with Hope and it was like they were the only two in the room. Lizzie shared, “Sometimes, your stomach’s got these crazy butterflies and all you have to do is look into the other person’s eyes to feel like you’re anchored. All of your doubts fade away.”

Penelope pulled Josie out of her head and back to the walk at hand.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Penelope flashed her best friend a wry, crooked smile. 

“Hmm. Ignoring that joke on purpose,” Josie retorted. Penelope gave an even wider smile. Josie finished, “Just thinking about what Lizzie and Hope have. It’s something special.”

Penelope chuckled, “Yeah, as much as I love making your sister miserable, I’m happy that they have each other. Gives some of us hope, pun intended.” 

Josie playfully pushed Penelope for the shorter girl to scoff. “You are such a dork, Penny. Two dad jokes in a span of one minute?”

“I’ll have you know that these jokes kill at parties. Girls love it.”

Josie’s gaze lingered a bit before she coughed and shook herself out of her thoughts. “Speaking of which...are you bringing anyone special to tonight’s party?” Josie playfully bumped shoulders with Penelope. Penelope took a moment to properly think through a response to such a loaded question. 

“Mmm, I don’t know,” Penelope’s eyes dropped to the ground for a second before self-aware mischief sparkles in her eyes. “There’s this gal who’s supposed to be showing up. She’s kinda always the center of the party, even if she doesn’t try to be, you know? Super tall, like a model. Deep, brown eyes.” 

Josie was confused. “Who’s that? Have you been with her before? You’ll have to introduce me.”

“Eh, she’s kinda taken already and I’ve never been with her, but I’m content to watch from afar. I gotta support my girl, Jojo, anyway.” Penelope still had that grin on her face while Josie tried to pour through the short list of girls that Penelope hadn’t been with yet. 

The two found themselves in front of Josie’s room and Josie was still trying to rack her brain for answers on Penelope’s mystery girl.

“Though I’m slightly hurt you’ve never told me about her before,” Josie playfully flared at Penelope before continuing, “and I’m not the most experienced with these love things yet, I’m sure if you tell her the truth, Penny, the cards will fall like they’re meant to.” Josie gave her a genuine grin. Josie joked, “Every girl at Salvatore would basically give a blood sacrifice to have you. It’s actually frightening. Maybe Lizzie hit it on the nose about the Satan thing.”

“I wouldn’t say every girl, Jojo.” Penelope looked Josie in the eyes.

Josie reached out a hand to quickly squeeze Penelope’s and broke away. She could never operate well under Penelope’s more intense gaze for very long. The double-meaning to the other witch’s words were lost on her.

“I’ll see you at the party, Pen. Save me a dance.” Josie tossed a fond wave and a smile.

Penelope felt her heart crack again at another missed opportunity to tell Josie how she felt, but maybe that was for the best. She was playing with fire and Penelope knew better. 

This was her place. She promised herself before. Josie’s friendship was worth everything. Even at the cost of a broken heart and an unrequited love. 

Penelope and Landon walked up to the birthday party together, dressed to the nines. She had been planning her outfit for some time, gathering the necessary materials to magic it all together. Emma had taught her a few tricks during her mentoring sessions that she used handily for tonight’s affairs. It wasn’t an expense she wanted to bother her mother with. 

Tonight, Penelope strutted into the party with an open black tailcoat, tailored slacks, a silver tie, green pocket square, and a strappy, silver three inch heel. With a hand in her pocket and the other looped around Landon’s arm, the two made a hell of a misfit fashion statement. Landon himself rocked a three piece navy blue suit, the lapels of which featured aloha style flowers and pastel colored fleur-de-lis.

The moment MG saw the two, he immediately threw down a track for their intro: Truth Hurts by Lizzo.

Landon gave her a side-eyed glance and popped out his leg with his hands on his hips as if it were a surprise his body moved of its own accord. Penelope laughed at his stupid antics while he proceeded to do a modified stanky leg.

From the balcony overlooking the festivities, Josie giggled at her two friends and was content to watch from afar as Penelope gave in. Her entrance dance of choice was no less charming as they made their way to the drinks table where Alaric and Caroline had already stopped by to gas up on (undoubtedly spiked) punch. She wondered if this mystery girl of Penelope’s would take notice of the effort Penelope put into her outfit. It wasn’t something that easily came by the Park household. She must be a real lucky girl.

Rafael noticed where his girlfriend’s gaze landed as he put his arms to encircle Josie’s shoulders. She seemed to wake up from whatever trance she was in to finish returning the peck on the lips he gave her.

“Woah, your heart’s beating fast and your cheeks are red. It’s nice to know I still have some effect on you,” Rafael had a boyish grin on his face. Josie couldn’t help but wonder why her heart was starting to settle down, now that Rafael was here.

She could only return his words with a half smile as she continued to reflect.

Up on the stage, her mother, Caroline, took the microphone to begin quieting down the crowd.

“Hey everybody, hope everything’s been going well for you tonight. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce my two, beautiful daughters who have recently turned the big one-six!” Cheers erupted in the audience as Lizzie and Hope, as well as Josie and Rafael got into position at the top of the school staircase for their big entrance. As the spotlight found them, their mother continued.

“Gosh, my babies are all grown up.” Caroline took a moment to fondly gaze at her twins.

Lizzie shouted from atop the staircase, “We get it, Mom, we love you too so get on with it!” Josie and Hope chuckled at Lizzie’s attempt to break her own awkward tension. The crowd followed suit. Though she loved the spotlight, Josie and Hope knew Lizzie best. Vulnerability was difficult for the girl so it presented itself in ways she was comfortable with. Most often, it was with sharp banter or intense direction bordering on given orders.

Caroline Forbes chuckled, “Alright then, without further ado, I present to you my beautiful daughter, Lizzie Saltzman, accompanied by my daughter-in-law, Hope Mikaelson.”

Lizzie facepalmed while Hope shifted, blushing furiously. The two eventually moved on down the staircase.

“And with her date, Rafael Waithe, my equally beautiful daughter, Josette Saltzman.”

The crowd cheered over Rihanna’s song, Love on the Brain, as Josie and Rafael made their way to the main dance floor.

By the drinks table, Penelope was caught speechless, unable to shift her gaze from her strikingly beautiful, best friend. Josie was wearing a soft, white, chiffon dress that stopped just above the knee. A hand’s width, pink, chiffon band was tied into a bow around the brunette’s waist. The girl in question wore minimal make-up, but had just enough blush to complement her radiant smile. Her hair was precisely done half up, enough to accentuate the length of her neck.

Landon was too preoccupied with the free hors d’eouvres being paraded amongst the masses to notice his friend’s love struck face.

As soon as the two couples took their places for the first dance, Penelope felt her stomach turn. Maybe she shouldn’t have shotgunned those two beers after the game.

She whispered an excuse to Landon about a really quick smoke and, no, she didn’t need a buddy because the hors d’eouvres needed him more. He didn’t need to worry so much.

The music of the party died down the further Penelope got and the grand, mahogany doors opened to a quaint courtyard with twinkle lights overhead. She recognized the area as the school’s garden. She could still make out the music of the party in the distance while she pulled out a cigarette.

“You know, those things have been known to kill, right?” Unexpectedly, it was Caroline Forbes at the courtyard entrance. Penelope had the decency to be sheepish, but couldn’t help herself by responding with, “I know, but so have folks like you. I think I’ll take my chances with a cigarette over a vampire any day.”

Caroline’s poker face broke and she let out a genuine laugh. 

“Touché. You must be Penelope Park.”

“The one and only. You must be Ms. Forbes.”

“Please, Caroline will do just fine, especially for the girl my daughter is smitten with.”

Penelope took a much longer drag of her cigarette, her eyes closed tight, her fingers on the bridge of her nose, and her face pinched as she tried to will away any form of complex thinking about the shit show of her love life. 

“What, no witty retort? It’s nice to finally meet you, Penelope. I saw your game earlier. You did incredibly well. Emma and I have also caught up. Your name was dropped more than a few times. I think her words used to describe you were, ‘prodigious’? Sound about right?”

“Eh.” Penelope waved away the compliment while Caroline stole a cigarette from Penelope’s carton next to where she was sat on the edge of a planter. Penelope couldn’t help the look of incredulity after Caroline leveled judgment, not two minutes earlier. The blonde shrugged.

“What? I’m not the one that has to worry about an early grave.”

“Fair.” Caroline was comfortable in the awkward silence though she could tell Penelope wasn’t.

Caroline offered, “Sorry, I don’t really know what to say. I feel like I’ve known you my entire life even though I’ve only known of you. Josie would talk about you all the time.”

“It was tough on her, how often you traveled around so much. I get the whole recruitment thing...trust me, I do. Magical families need that kind of hope.”

Caroline was thoughtful. “Actually, that’s kinda why I came out here tonight. I wanted to say thank you.”

Penelope looked up as Caroline gave her a sincere look. “You were there for my daughter while she was growing into her own person. She needed a best friend, a confidante. Something that I was never able to provide with all my...travel. Thank you, Penelope.”

Penelope only gave a soft grunt of acknowledge in response to the thanks she received.

“So...how long have you loved Josie?” Penelope had unfortunately been in the middle of a drag and began coughing in a fit of surprise. Through watery eyes, she could make out a devilish look of amusement from Ms. Forbes as she looked into the distance, offering a firm hand to slap the cough out of Penelope. Asshole. Must be where Lizzie got that from.

After her coughing ceased, Penelope’s back a little more tender than before, she finally retorted, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Caroline’s ears perked at something and tilted in the direction of the party. She refocused on Penelope before she offered, “Hope used to say that too before baking pies with Lizzie over holiday break turned into the affliction you see today. You should get yourself checked out. WebMD is a great resource. I’m pretty sure your symptoms line up with lovesickness. If you’re unlucky, it’s terminal.” Caroline gave Penelope a short look of sympathy after having a laugh. Penelope’s face was stormy. 

“Alright, Vampire Barbie, I don’t know who you—-“

“And saved by the bell,” Caroline interjected, “A certain someone’s here to see you. By the way, if you ever fuck with Josie’s feelings, I WILL hunt you.” Caroline gave a sweet smile that showed off her razor sharp teeth. “Good luck, Pen!”

With that, Caroline turned to meet her daughter, Josie, by the side entrance to Salvatore. She gave her a quick hug before getting back inside the school, leaving her daughter to continue on to the courtyard. Penelope’s heart started racing as she rushed to finish her last drag before putting out the cigarette. Her fingers fiddled with the lighter. Though she had magic that could do the trick, something about the click of her zippo was comforting.

She looked up to see Josie walking over with soft concern and her own bit of exhaustion evident on her face. 

Josie took a seat quietly next to Penelope. It dawned on her that this was where they met in kindergarten. 

“Hey you.” Josie gently bumped her shoulder into Penelope’s.

“Hey yourself...what are you doing out here?” Penelope started softly, “the party’s that way, birthday girl.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was having a decent time until I realized that this beautiful girl that promised to save me a dance wasn’t anywhere in sight.”

Penelope fake gasped, a hand clutched to her heart.

“Can you believe it? She totally stood me up,” Josie played along.

“That bitch.”

“I know.”

“Well, I may only be a lesser substitute, but, if you’re willing, would you like to have this dance?”

Josie heard Lover by Taylor Swift start up in the distance.

“Yeah, Pen. I’d love to,” Josie grinned at Penelope’s antics.

The two girls apprehensively touched hands before Josie placed hers on the hips of her best friend. 

‘I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, but I want them all’

Josie and Penelope fit each other’s frames like they’d danced together their entire lives.

‘Can I go where you go?  
Can we always be this close forever and ever?’

Being in each other’s space looked natural on them.

“What did my mom want with you?”

“Eh, you know. Wanted to meet the best friend of her daughter. She was checking in. Mom things.”

“She said she liked you and then asked me to help show you how to get to WebMD for some reason,” Josie said with a confused look on her face.

Penelope muttered under her breath, “That bitch.”

“What was that?”

“No, nothing, uh, it was nothing.”

‘And ah take me out and take me home’

“Okay, well...I’m glad you two finally met. She’s pretty great.”

“Yeah, absolutely. One hundred percent the best and totally not scary as fuck.”

Josie gave the witch a weird look, but ended up getting lost in the gold flakes in Penelope’s green eyes. She chalked it up to the overprotectiveness her mother must have showcased tonight. 

‘You’re my my my my lover’

Josie’s head started leaning a little closer towards Penelope. Penelope couldn’t tear her eyes away and her head followed suit in a trance.

Josie’s eyes darted to Penelope’s mouth before...

“Ow,” Penelope stated after their foreheads knocked together. Josie immediately moved to rub the pain away from the curly haired, witch’s forehead. Unfortunately, her heel caught on a crack in the cement ground and she found herself falling backwards. Penelope reacted and quickly caught her in an accidental dip before righting her with a laugh.

“Oh jeez, Penelope, I am so sorry. I almost made you fall.” Josie closed her eyes, embarrassment flooding her cheeks. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen.

“Jojo, don’t worry. I couldn’t fall any further for you if I tried.”

Josie’s embarrassment wouldn’t relent, but her friend easily laughed of the tension of the fiasco. She didn’t know that Penelope was just as affected by the truth behind those words.

Penelope leaned forward to touch foreheads with Josie, like the girl originally intended. With a smile and a quick tuck of a misplaced strand of hair behind Josie’s ear, Penelope pulled away as the song ended. Josie hadn’t even noticed that they finished the dance, the courtyard lamp and the twinkling lights the only witnesses to something that could have been more.

“Happy birthday, Josie.” Josie took in the smile Penelope offered as her best friend turned to walk away into the night. She wondered why her own heart hurt so much in return.


	6. Curses and Cures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael and Josie have a frank conversation. Caroline and Penelope have a common interest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your support! I’m floored by your responses and encouragement. I haven’t forgot about this fic. I just got major writer’s block and kept erasing/rewriting it. 
> 
> Apologies for spelling/grammar errors. I’m the worst when it comes to rereading my own work because it’s sometimes really cringe-inducing. I’m working on a Hogwarts AU and I have another one shot that I’m mapping out right now. Enjoy!
> 
> AN: I wrote in that Penelope is part of the Ash Coven because it’s a shout-out to the fact that Josie loves fire. Penelope is a fan of watching her girl burn the world down.

Josie was left in the courtyard, staring off into the distance at Penelope’s retreating form. She was confused about how she was feeling. It was Rafael that found her long after the party concluded, still in the courtyard sitting by her lilies. He quietly took a seat next to her, seemingly in deep thought.

“Hey, Jo.”

Josie gave him a smile. 

“Raf.” 

Josie looped her arm around his and let herself fit into his side.

“Was that Penelope just now? She’s been a ghost all night. Is she alright?”

“Honestly, I’m not really so sure these days. I feel like she’s been a little reserved.”

Rafael paused. He wasn’t a stupid jock like a lot of people seemed to assume. When he first came to this school, he was almost positive that Penelope and Josie were actively dating. The way that they were constantly in each other’s space. It was like watching the earth revolve around the sun. 

When Rafael found out that Josie wasn’t taken, he was surprised because he thought he knew the look that Penelope had in her eyes. He used to wear the same look when he was in love with his late ex-girlfriend. At the time, he decided to just make the most of it and take a chance before the dynamic of that relationship changed. Josie could decide on what she wanted if what she wanted ever changed.

Fortunately/unfortunately for Rafael, the siphon agreed to date him, even go steady with him. It had been at least 5 months, but he was still olexpecting something to start clicking. While his affection grew, he thought that maybe Josie’s was at its limit.

He shoulder bumped her with a small grin, “What about you, birthday girl? I noticed you’ve been a little off recently.”

“I’m alright, I think. It’s nothing. Thanks for asking,” Josie said with a short smile. She placed a hand on his cheek to ease the worry out of his face.

“I don’t know if it’s nothing, Jo.”

“Thank you for tonight, Raf. You’ve been nothing but sweet,” Josie didn’t understand why she was deflecting.

“Yeah, of course. It’s kind of a thing people do when they’re...you know...in love,” Rafael chanced in a small confession as they wordlessly decided to begin walking back to their rooms. The teenage wolf couldn’t help but declare his feelings. Chance had gotten him this far, but chance didn’t exactly equate to longevity in a relationship. Maybe he could be happy with being oblivious, but then again, he owed it to Josie and himself to find that someone that made love worth writing songs and poetry about. He didn’t mean to, but he gave Josie a sadder smile than intended.

Josie tripped on a patch of grass, but quickly caught herself to continue walking. Her eyes widened slightly and she made a concerted effort to keep them fixed to the ground.

“Oh, Raf.” Josie shut her eyes, hoping to just disappear where she stood. She wouldn’t complain if she was struck by lightning either.

After a longer pause than she meant, Josie replied, “I...love you too.”

Josie couldn’t understand why it came out like such a question or why she even said it at all. She had the tendency to say things that made people feel better when she was under pressure, but she honestly tried to mean it and was searching herself endlessly for any semblance of conviction. She was even searching for the likelihood of ever meaning it in the future. 

Rafael responded with a tight smile and a short nod, like he was finally coming to terms with something. It wasn’t unkind. It was more like he was giving in. He gave a small chuckle before replying.

“No, you don’t.”

“No...I don’t.” Josie was crushed under her own realization about how different a place she was at in their relationship.

Rafael didn’t expect to feel even more pain after Josie acknowledged that she didn’t feel the same way about him. But he did.

“Then why’d you say that, Jo?” Rafael was confused and frustrated, but he looked up to the stars to keep his head cool and his voice even.

“I don’t know, Raf...I’m so sorry.” She was embarrassed, but she was at a loss for words. Her mouth opened to say something and immediately closed multiple times upon realizing that there wasn’t anything she could say to make it better. She realized her own truth while she said out loud, “I really want to love you. I want to be in love with you.”

“Do you think you could ever?”

Josie didn’t know how to respond to that so she didn’t. She wouldn’t get caught making the same mistake of lying to spare his feelings twice tonight. 

“Does it have anything to do with Penelope?”

Josie was completely taken off guard at that question.

“Wait, what?” Josie replies, truly confused.

“Oh, come on, Josie.”

“What do you mean, ‘come on,’ Rafael?”

Rafael’s mouth formed into a thin line, again, frustrated that Josie wasn’t owning up to the truth of why they weren’t working out. Maybe it was just Rafael that was wrong for her, he realized that was in the realm of possibilities. However, maybe she really didn’t know that her love (friendship or otherwise) for Penelope was a part of the reason why she was emotionally unavailable.

Rafael thought that if Penelope was the sun, constantly burning and fixed in place to provide whatever warmth it could, and Josie was the earth, always revolving and basking in the heat of the sun, Rafael was possibly the moon (appropriate for a wolf). The moon did the lion-share of work to cause the tides to change and when a part of the earth didn’t see the sun, the moon diligently reflected some of the sun’s light back to keep the earth company.

Rafael thought he could do that for Josie, help her understand. The time for him to keep Josie company was over now. Maybe he’ll see her again in a romantic light another day, but that time wasn’t now.

“Jo, it’s all a little fresh for me still, but I love you. I need some time, but I want us to still be friends. I’m not sure your heart was ever really in this the same way. Not that you didn’t try,” Rafael offered. He kept his eyes on the stars and gently squeezed her hand.

“I think you need to figure out what you really want. Don’t ignore the truth because it’s convenient. Don’t ignore your heart because of what you think I need or want. Love is selfish and selfless all at once.”

“Rafael, I—-“ Josie was at a loss for words.

“It’s alright, Jo.” Rafael’s voice was gentle. “I don’t think there’s anything that could be said to make this better or easier right now and I think this is all for the best. Find me again if your heart ever has the room for it.”

Josie was a mix of emotions. She was confused, hurt, and relieved all at once, but she didn’t understand why. Rafael had been her first official partner, first kiss, and first lover, so why couldn’t he be her first love? They shared feelings and intimate moments that still were part of the fabric of Josie’s heart and, though he wasn’t the one, she needed to feel the pain and come to terms with the end of it all.

Soon enough, Rafael left after escorting Josie to her door. Josie walked into her room, dumbstruck and crying. When she entered, Lizzie shot Hope a look and Hope immediately nodded. A few moments later, the three girls were splayed out on blankets with a carton or two of Josie’s favorite ice cream.

No words had yet to be exchanged except for a few yes or no questions to what PJs Josie wanted to wear and a few muttered words of thanks. 

“Jo, did you want me to call Penelope?” Hope tentatively questioned.

Josie’s eyes opened wide. “No, no, please. I...think it’s better if I don’t see her for right now.”

Hope and Lizzie were taken aback, but they didn’t further question the girl’s request. “Okay. We’re right here for you.”

Sleep overtook her and soon enough, the sun rose the next day.

Penelope was just sauntering into 3rd period Witchcraft Survival Skills a tad late with an excuse hot on her tongue. 

“Mrs. Peterson, you would NOT believe what the 2nd floor restroom flooded wi—- you’re not Mrs. Peterson.” Penelope’s eyebrows shot up. She was fully expecting her much older and gullible teacher

Caroline Forbes shot her an unamused face and drily delivered, “Astute observation, Ms. Park. Excuses won’t get you anywhere with me. Now take a seat and see me in my office after classes today.”

Penelope gave her best friend’s mother an irritating grin that showcased a careless attitude. On any given day, Penelope Park gave off the air that she didn’t give a shit about most things, to include academics. Most people at Salvatore lacked basic observation skills that extended beyond popularity, good looks, and wealth. If you claimed to know two shits about the girl, you’d know that school was everything to her. Though Salvatore cursed her with the only love of her life, it gave her family breathing room to get by. On top of that, gaining knowledge meant even more opportunity. If you excelled, you’d get a chance to escape your reality and rewrite your own story. With all of this in mind, Penelope took a calculated approach to how she portrayed her interest. More scrutiny from others meant less freedom to do what she wanted. She took her seat. 

“Now class, I’m Dr. Forbes and I’ll be substituting in while Mrs. Peterson takes care of a family visit. Today, we’ll begin our foray into the Curses and Cures section of the class curriculum.”

The class continued with a few group readings and culminated in students attempting to create their own curses to set on their partners. The tricky part was making sure you mapped out a plan thoroughly enough to create your loophole to cure whatever curse was inflicted. The subject matter itself was high level in their craft and Penelope was absolutely floored. Strategy and forward thinking were huge parts of the game at hand. She lived for it. 

Caroline kept a keen eye on the Park girl. Emma and Alaric had mentioned her on more than one occasion since her admittance on scholarship as a child. Her coven wasn’t particularly notable, the only thing on record for the Ash Coven was a penchant for mischief and a close relationship with the afterlife. It was pretty difficult magic, but they didn’t make waves like the Gemini Coven, who was also known for similar spells. The only difference was that the Gemini Coven had more emphasis on prison worlds and other dimensions. It was how they grew notoriety for their witchcraft, aside from their old, annoying curse that continued to haunt her family today. Emma had grown fond of the girl early on and willing chose to mentor the girl. Having a distraction from the pressures of a broken home ended up giving her goals that did wonders for her resilience. Caroline encouraged it from afar and would often keep tabs. 

There was a young boy that had created a small curse on his lab partner that he was having trouble undoing. Though he only meant to bind his friend’s hands and prevent them from being easily undone, the curse was poorly created and continued to constrict the girl over time. Panic began to set in. Penelope noticed and walked over. After studying it for a few moments, Penelope, with a mutter and a flourish of her fingers, set the girl free. 

Caroline’s lips tightened into a flat line.

The day went by much more slowly after that class and Penelope was honestly bored. She saw Josie once or twice in passing, but her best friend only gave her a small wave and a short smile. There was a reservation and detachment in her eyes that Penelope had never seen directed at her before. Though she craved to fix whatever it was that was bothering the girl, Josie would run off before Penelope could get a word in edgewise.

The end of the day came and Penelope groaned as she remembered that she had an appointment with vampire Barbie. Though Penelope knew that the woman was the headmaster and also the mother of her best friend, Penelope couldn’t help but want to get under her skin. It seemed as if the woman also enjoyed irritating her by assuming she knew everything about her already. Penelope just couldn’t help their dynamic.

Penelope had a strong front most of the time, but few things scared her more than the prospect of losing her spot at school. She and her family needed this. It was a chance to get a better job that would help her household. It was an ease of mind to not have to feed an extra mouth 9 months out of the year. So when she decided to knock on Dr. Forbes door rather than barge in like her reputation demanded, it was born out of an uncharacteristic apprehension.

Caroline’s head popped up to see the young witch asking to join her. 

“Come on in, Penelope.”

The girl didn’t take her seat right away and shifted her eyes around the room as she inched her way towards the vampire.

“Look, I apologize for being late earlier. You know how important this all is to me. It won’t happen again. Could I please go now?”

Caroline shook her head. “That’s not why I asked you to meet me here today. I’ve seen your records, Penelope, and they are...impressive to say the least.”

Penelope was a little taken aback at the quick shift in conversation. She stayed quiet to allow the older woman to further explain.

“You know what we were studying in class today?”

“Curses and cures, yeah. Dr. Saltz recommended it to be the next part of my curriculum since I want to be a doctor after school.”

Caroline leveled her gaze because she knew that her explanation was going to be similar to ripping off a bandaid.

“Actually, he did that because I asked him to. Emma and Dr. Saltzman....they all kept tabs on your development because I’ve asked them to do so.”

Penelope’s eyes went from confusion to guarded in an instant. 

“Okay. Explain.”

“There’s this curse, Penelope. It’s a rare curse that sets upon a pair of twins once they reach 22. The Gemini Coven has kept the origins and lore of this curse a much hidden secret, whether out of embarrassment for how it came to be in the first place or out of self-preservation due to factors that we aren’t privy to. The set of twins that have the Gemini curse are magically forced into a battle of wills in which the stronger twin absorbs the weaker twin’s abilities, magic, and strength. The winner gets to become the leader of the coven.”

Penelope’s eyes widened. Her first thought was possibly losing Josie. 

“But there’s a fix right? Do the twins know?” Penelope’s heart felt the first strike of fear. 

“That’s what I’m hoping and...no, I haven’t told them.” Caroline’s matter-of-fact delivery angered Penelope. However, the girl never chose to devolve into a puddle of emotion. If anything, the angrier she got, the more precise she cut.

“Why haven’t you told them yet?”

Caroline rubbed at her temple. “I wanted them to live a normal childhood. They’re teenagers Penelope. That isn’t a pressure-filled fate that I wish on anyone.”

“What, so you just take away their fucking agency by making decisions to keep them in the dark and ghosting them their entire life? I don’t know if you’re gunning for mother of the year awards 2019, but I’m pretty sure the damn academy doesn’t have betrayal as one of their judging criteria.” 

Caroline stayed quiet. Though she knew the girl was angry for good reason, it didn’t stop her from feeling pained about how her own decision-making and idea of sacrifice in the name of love could be wrong. She understood because she was the same way at her age. The truth was everything to her, so when did she start making conditions for everything? When it came to being a mother, she would do everything for her girls. She didn’t care about blurred lines. That was her resolve and whatever verbal pain Penelope or anyone would try to inflict couldn’t change her mind.

“Now, that’s not fair, Penelope.”

“No! Don’t you start.” Penelope took a step back and her hands came up to put a wall between them, almost in an action to calm herself. This was when Penelope faltered and the older woman noticed the slight quiver of her lips and a waver in her tone. What wasn’t fucking fair was that the love of her life had an expiration date and she didn’t know what to do. She had to admit that somewhere deep, deep down, she cared about Lizzie too. However, Josie was always the soft, selfless one. She wouldn’t fight to live if it came down to Lizzie or her. She would sacrifice herself. Penelope’s head spun. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a steadying breath. 

“Please, tell me that you have a plan.”

“That’s why I’m telling you Penelope. I need a damn good witch and someone that won’t stop fighting. I can’t take Hope away from the girls right now. She needs to stay and help Alaric protect them from whatever sordid monster of the week comes next. Once he gets back, I plan to leave for Belgium...and I want you to come with me.”

“Why? Why tell me?”

Penelope caught the quick mention of Caroline keeping tabs on her through Emma and Alaric. There was another layer to Penelope’s hurt...a hint of something else: pain at the revelation of manipulation. It called into question how much they actually cared about her or if it was all just to groom her as a back-up plan.

“Because I don’t trust anyone else to play this part. I would take Emma, but the kids need her here. You’re the only witch at this school that is invested, skilled, and stubborn enough to fucking solve this once and for all.” Penelope was pissed still, but the roaring lion in her was starting to calm down.

“You don’t even know me.”

Caroline arched a brow and leveled a look into her eyes that held so much warmth that Penelope had to look away. 

“I know you, Penelope. And I know that you love my daughter. Time is running out for my girls. I have a plan, but I need you to help me.”

Penelope’s strength, resilience, and capability in finding loopholes and strategizing was only second to maybe her other daughter-in-law. It made her an incredible witch and this was precisely why Caroline had come back to Salvatore with a plan hot on her hands. Alaric just needed to come through with the artifact from South America.

Penelope looked up with resolve.

“Okay, I’m in.”


	7. The Jump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope says goodbye and we start to see how she’s involved with the cure to the merge.

Caroline Forbes loved few things more than watching the sunrise every morning. Not to be misunderstood, she always insisted that she enjoyed the sunset too. However, there was something special about how it rose that gave her hope. 

Sat on the windowsill of her shared headmaster’s office, that’s exactly what she did. A few mornings had passed after her proposition to Penelope. A part of her hated herself for enlisting the girl’s help. She knew she was already betraying her twins’ trust ever since she and Alaric decided to keep the merge a secret. 

Honestly, she never thought she’d keep the secret this long. She had gotten close to telling them many times over the years. The broken-hearted phone calls and the pleas for mom to come home would lead to building up enough courage to tell them the truth. Every time Caroline saw them rave about a new crush or rant about some teacher, every good and bad teenage experience...she convinced herself to keep things a secret for just one more year.

One year turned to two. Two turned to four. Now, we only had five years left and precious time was running out on her daughters’ lives. Though her own skills as a seasoned vampire were helpful to get by, Caroline didn’t have the same affinity for magic that a witch like Penelope did. What she had encountered on her adventures to find a solution to the merge was a cocktail of death and danger that only the desperate could afford. She had contingencies to protect Penelope from that, but she worried if this was ethical, let alone enough to keep the girl safe.

Additionally, she listed ‘manipulating the somewhat unrequited feelings of a teenage witch best friend of your daughter’ to the many reasons she hated herself for not solving things sooner.

Caroline propped her knees closer to her chest. Good thing it didn’t matter how much she hated herself. She just needed her daughters to stay alive. It helped that Penelope shared that perspective.

Alaric reached out to her a few days ago with information that he had retrieved the artifact she had been tracking down for the better part of a year. He would be returning to Salvatore soon. Caroline had already researched Penelope’s family background extensively and, if she was right, Penelope could get them access to the next piece of the puzzle. The only thing left would be for the girl to say her goodbyes to Salvatore before Caroline and Penelope would take off for Belgium. 

Penelope was just about finished with packing her duffle. Caroline had said they would constantly be on the move and to pack light so she would be leaving most of her things behind at Salvatore. She had already set things up with her mother to pick them up another time. She thought back on breaking the news to her family a few days ago. 

Telling her brother was extremely tough. Theo had to grow much more quickly than most young boys his age. He didn’t have the naivety most other kids and that played into how close the two were. He was a pillar of strength while Penelope was growing up. She often thought that he was the light of her life. Not that she’d ever tell that to him in so many words. The Park kids simply knew that love was shared, even in biting comments and witty banter. Penelope could always tell that he loved her too in the way his eyes would light up when she visited him or his laughter at her dumb antics like sneaking his favorite ice cream home (without her mother knowing). He looked at her like a hero, even when Penelope didn’t feel like she deserved it. That’s what made his refusal to look at her all the more crushing when she broke the news of her move. However, it didn’t make her second guess her decision. Penelope had faith in her family. She trusted the familial solidarity they all built from the rubble her father left behind. She trusted the memories of them making the most out of shitty situations and still being able to smile. She knew they would love her no matter what and that they would survive. 

From what Caroline had said, it was dubious as to whether or not Josie would. Reciprocated feelings or not, Josie was her best friend and very much a part of her family. She was in most of the memories the Park family shared and Penelope knew her family loved her just as much as Penelope did. Penelope leaving would be best for everyone and she felt like they would understand.

If her goodbye with Theo was rough on her feelings, her goodbye to her mother was the song ‘Guilt Trip’ at max volume. 

“Mom...Dr. Forbes at school let me know about this all-girls boarding school in Belgium that specializes in giving students degrees in the real world while continuing to develop their magical abilities. She and Emma had been talking about sending me on full scholarship there with a potential to come back and work at Salvatore if I wanted to. I would be free to work in whatever industry I wanted, but you know how much I love witchcraft...I really think it would be an awesome opportunity for me to keep doing what I love and figure out what’s next for me. Have a back-up job for the future in case whatever it is I choose doesn’t work out. You wouldn’t have to pay a cent and I won’t have any loans to work off. What do you think?”

Penelope had practiced sticking relatively close to the truth. Her cover story wasn’t exactly a lie. Caroline Forbes did have ties to a school in Belgium that she got Penelope into, but Penelope would be deferring her attendance until they finished figuring out this curse. 

“Penelope, that’s wonderful! What will you be studying? When do you start?”

“Um...I would be studying things like curses,” Penelope said drily. “Dr. Forbes said that she would take me to Belgium in the next few days for a few school tours and I may or may not finish off my first year there shortly. The boarding schedule here would be the same and I would see you for a little while during the holidays.”

Her mother was sad at the news of how soon things would be moving and began to cry tears of joy. Penelope knew that her mom shouldn’t see much of a change in things. Salvatore was already a year round boarding school for her. Even during the holidays, Penelope usually stayed there to lessen costs at home. Emma’s training kept her busy in the summers so that helped. Part of Penelope hurt at lying to her mother about when she’d be back. Honestly, she didn’t know what was going to happen to her on this journey, but she hated the idea of not being able to come home at least to say hello.

Penelope finished wrapping up the last few things with her room. She decided to leave that sweatshirt of hers that Josie loved so much with a letter on top, explaining her absence. Placing a photo of Josie, Lizzie, Hope, Landon, MG, and even Rafael having fun during the last pick-up flag football game in her jacket pocket, she left without turning back. 

Penelope was at the front door to Salvatore when she heard her name shouted with a fiery voice. She cringed and turned around slowly, plastering a smile on her face to detract from the look of any wrongdoing.

“Jojo, hey...”

Josie had her letter in hand and tears streaming down her face. Penelope wished she would have locked the door to her room to give her more buffer time to leave. 

“ ‘Jojo, hey?!’ Is that all you have to say when you decided to just leave without saying anything to me?”

Penelope cringed and closed her eyes, trying to will away the awkwardness of this moment. She couldn’t help but stay quiet. Josie got closer, grabbing her forearms and quietly searching Penelope’s face for any answer.

“Penelope, please. Talk to me. Don’t shut me out.” Penelope knew she had been doing that more and more these days. She didn’t know when her friendship got so complicated when it used to be as easy as breathing. 

“Well, I mean, I wrote why in my letter...”

Josie took a step back to hold herself, as if that would keep her together. 

“You’re leaving though? To Belgium? Penny, this is so out of the blue. I just don’t get it... School doesn’t even get out for a few more months and you’re not up to go to college for another year.”

“Josie, I’m doing it for me. You know how much my family needs the money at home and it’s an awesome opportunity to follow my dreams on a full ride scholarship. Emma and your mom had petitioned all of my extra academic sessions to count as credit for graduation. I technically have finished everything I need to leave here.” Josie noticed the girl couldn’t look her in the eye.

“But you...you didn’t even consider talking about this with me? Did you even care about leaving me behind? Pen, we’re supposed to be best friends.”

Josie’s voice was starting to waver and Penelope’s resolve followed suit. This was exactly why she couldn’t trust herself to say anything in person. She hated goodbyes. She hated the vulnerability and the need for explanation. Whisking away and disappearing on a whim was something she loved, but this gorgeous and talented girl in front of her was one of the only few people to ever make the idea of settling home sound fulfilling. Originally, Penelope reasoned the guilt away of not saying goodbye to her best friend. The most insecure parts of her told Penelope that Josie didn’t need her. Josie had Raf, Hope, Lizzie, and MG. She was happy here at Salvatore. Penelope was just excess and she never really felt like she fit into that happy picture once they started high school. Her friends did their best to make her feel like she belonged, but Penelope was always so in her head. Always brooding in the corner, cracking wiseass remarks, holding unrequited feelings.

Penelope shifted her thoughts to all the missed opportunities to confess her feelings and having to watch Josie in a relationship with Rafael. She was afraid to tell Josie about her feelings before Raf, during Raf, and now. She was afraid of saying goodbye. She was afraid of the magnitude of love she had for this girl because it was consuming her and she couldn’t find the strength or motivation to move on to other people. She wasn’t brave enough to love who she wanted to love and own up to her feelings. Penelope felt a wave of anger at herself.

Their friendship came in intimate moments of comfort and long stretches of detached smiles these days. Penelope was angry at herself for forcing most of the strain on the friendship. Penelope’s greatest fault was that she never communicated what she wanted. Selfishly, she just acted for better or worse.

“We haven’t been acting like best friends for awhile, Jojo. Let’s not kid ourselves,” Penelope delivered coldly.

Josie looked taken aback, getting smaller by the second.

“...Oh.” Josie felt like she just got hit by a freight train. Penelope felt an immense amount of guilt, but she knew that she needed to walk out the doors of Salvatore and disappear from this girl if she ever wanted a chance to save her. She covered her guilt with a genuine mounting anger at the reality of losing the girl she never really got to love.

“Yeah.” 

“Where’s this coming from? Pen, are you okay? Are you in danger?” Josie looked concerned. She knew Penelope would never intentionally hurt her like this. The girl was too kind and soft with her for Josie to ever believe what was happening in front of her now.

“No, Josie, I’m not okay!” Penelope shrugged off Josie’s concerned hands that reached up to her face before Josie retracted them immediately, as if scalded. Josie remained silent while Penelope continued. 

“I’m tired...alright? Just...so tired of keeping my feelings to myself, waiting, and hoping for you to ever love me the way that I love you.”

The silence in the room was deafening and Penelope thought her heart thudded so hard that it would leap out of her throat from the anxiety. Her heart spoke before her brain could catch the words in time. Her fingers reached to pinch the bridge of her nose to will away the uncomfortable moment. If the cat was out of the bag now, Penelope decided to use it as a valid excuse.

“You’ve known this whole time. I know you’ve known,” Penelope challenged. She didn’t actually think it was true, but she was trying to delay and gain leverage in the conversation to think up her next diversion.

“Pen...” Josie looked away.

“...That wasn’t a no,” Penelope said, surprised. “Why, Josie? Why didn’t you ever say anything?” She completely gave into her anger and it felt good to hold nothing back.

“Josie, tell me you couldn’t see me in pain over how much it hurt to see you with someone else.” Tell me you love me.

“I...” Josie took a long pause to think her words through carefully. Her voice broke when she found the truth.

“I don’t know, Pen. God, I don’t know. I didn’t want to believe we were growing apart. I... I thought that if I could pretend that everything was the same, then we would still be the Penelope and Josie we always were. I didn’t know what I wanted. I just didn’t want things to change... I wanted you to be mine, Pen. I didn’t want to lose you before and I don’t want to lose you now.”

“But you don’t want me. Not the way that I want you,” Penelope looked up to the ceiling to hide the tears in her eyes. Josie stayed quiet. Penelope took that as confirmation and I hated herself for still hoping that Josie shared her feelings.

“I love you, Josie Saltzman, and that is the absolute best and worst thing I have ever had the pleasure of doing.” Penelope chuckled painfully.

“I was an idiot for reading into every touch, every hug, every single cliche comfort even though I knew you didn’t love me back.”

Penelope took a deep breath, the anchor of her truth lifting off her chest.

“And I’m sorry. It isn’t your fault. I know that I can’t expect feelings from you that you don’t have, but I can’t get over you...not here at least. That’s why I’m leaving, Jojo. I need to do something for me. I need to just go, grow, be away for awhile. It will give us both a chance to understand who we are without each other.”

Penelope gave her a watery, wry smile, inching closer to touch foreheads. Josie didn’t want to know who she was without the girl in front of her.

Josie was caught in a mix of emotions. She was taken aback by the confession and crying at the thought of goodbye. She wanted to scream that she did love Penelope, but she couldn’t find her voice. So much had been happening these last few weeks that she didn’t want to just play with the girl’s feelings just to keep her here. She still didn’t know what she wanted and seeing the pain on Penelope’s face...she never wanted to be the cause of that pain ever again. 

“Pen...please. Don’t go.” 

“Jojo, I promise, one day, you’ll understand why I’m leaving. This is the best, for both of us.”

Josie was weakly shaking her head no while clutching to Penelope as if she was in fear that the girl was going to disappear into thin air. 

“Would you do me one last thing?” Penelope whispered close to her ear. Josie gave a small nod and held her even closer.

“Find your voice. Find who you are without me, without Lizzie, Hope, your parents, everyone. Discover your wants and desires. Then, be selfish and really fucking live for yourself, okay? Don’t do things because you’re trying to be considerate of others and their feelings. Life is...too short.”

With that, Penelope gave her the softest kiss goodbye on her right cheek. Josie’s eye fluttered shut and she willed the world to stop. When she opened her eyes, she was alone in the front hallway of Salvatore with nothing but a hot tears, a broken heart, and a ghost of a kiss from a girl that she would never forget.

Five Years Later.

Josie Saltzman was a twenty-one year old in the fall semester of her third year in college. A lot had changed for her since she had said goodbye to Salvatore and began her life as a young adult. 

Lizzie and Hope had just sent her a postcard about the start of their own junior year at UCLA that had her in stitches. Leave it to the two dumbasses to prove that it’s possible to bicker like an old married couple, even in writing. California was a perfect fit for their personalities.

Josie had a few offers for schools, but she decided to stay closer to home and go to Princeton up in New Jersey. A few factors had played into the decision to not follow Lizzie and Hope to college.

Lizzie mainly blamed Penelope Park. After Josie told her about the confession and her move to Belgium, Lizzie officially put her on the blacklist. Josie would like to say that she didn’t allow Lizzie to color her own understanding of things, but that wouldn’t be honest. At first, Josie couldn’t stop crying. Every morning, she woke up expecting the girl to just show back up to school. Every day, she was disappointed. Every night, she fell asleep wondering where Penelope was at and if she felt like there was a part of her heart missing too. 

Hope was more understanding about it all. She stayed with Josie and helped her put some of the pieces back together. They became much closer friends in their own right. MG and Landon helped her fill the gaps best they could too. They could empathize because they also lost a friend with little explanation or goodbye. 

If there wasn’t so much pain, Josie would have believed that the girl never existed in the first place. There was one day that she completely forgot the girl left and she snuck into her room after a bad dream. There wasn’t a single thing left except for Penelope’s sweater that Josie previously loved to steal. Josie hadn’t even thought to grab it that day she discovered Penelope’s letter. That night, however, she pulled the hoodie on and cried herself back to sleep, the last hint of Penelope’s scent lingering around her.

Once she got sick of the crying and sadness, Josie got angry. Lizzie’s words fueled her and being angry at the girl made the sadness go away. At least, for a little while. Josie lashed out to her mother for being the cause of Penelope’s move. After weeks of calls, crying, and accusations for not being more present in the girl’s’ lives, Josie happened upon a few documents in the headmaster’s office. 

Long story short, Josie and Lizzie discovered news of the merge and the impending fate that would take place on their 22nd birthday. The anger at the secrecy and news caused Lizzie to shut out their parents and take off to California to live the rest of her life as freely as possible with the love of her life. When Josie asked why Lizzie wasn’t as concerned with finding a loophole to the merge, Lizzie matter-of-factly answered that it didn’t matter if her life was on the line. She would give her life up for Josie, no matter the circumstance. Nothing would ever make her betray her loyalty to her only sister. This bothered Josie and Hope to no end, though Josie was thankful for the sentiment behind the idea. Lizzie just wanted to live the rest of her life as freely as possible, but Josie wanted to make sure that both of their lives wouldn’t be cut short.

Josie had taken the last year of high school to focus on researching and fighting the merge. She poured all of her anger and sadness into preventing their deaths, but every time she asked her parents questions about the curse, they deflected and told her to focus on living a normal life. So, Josie of course moved to a school well-known in the underground witch community to find out what she wanted out of life, who she wanted to be, and how to solve the damn Gemini curse. 

That’s how Josie found herself in her third year of Bio, pre-med, studying under the one and only Freya Mikaelson. Hope had introduced the two as soon as she heard news of the merge. Freya was considered one of the best witches in centuries and, if her parents wouldn’t allow Josie to help research solutions to the Gemini curse, she would find them on her own. Josie would be damned to have Lizzie’s life or her own robbed before her eyes.

The two were previously working on the effects of DNA manipulation on a cursed body, an idea that Freya’s wife, Keelin, pitched. They had tried for months to see if they could change someone’s DNA enough to essentially outrun a curse, but, unfortunately, they continued to run into dead end after dead end. If Josie somehow managed to somehow figure out how to live past her 22nd birthday, she would love to pursue her medical degree and work in emergency medicine. 

Josie was passionate about solving problems and challenges these days. She saw every potential patient as a puzzle that needed to be solved. As soon as Josie found out about her expiration date, Josie became even more methodical and purposeful. There was an urgency to accomplish anything and everything. The compulsion was so strong that she found it hard to sleep at night, hating the thought that she would wake up with so much time lost. If finding about the merge made Lizzie feel more comfortable and at ease with enjoying the rest of her short life, it did the opposite for Josie and supercharged her desire to really live. 

Josie felt her phone buzz with a text from the girl she slept with last night, Kenzie something. She groaned at the other girl’s request to go out for dinner this Friday. Josie decided to put off a response until later.

These days, Josie was a lot more comfortable with her sexuality and found herself out most weekends to find a casual hook-up. If you asked her, she would say that she didn’t do it because she craved emotional connection. She didn’t even find the touching meaningful in any way. She just saw sex as a basic human need...like scratching an itch. 

If she was being honest with herself though, she would own up to the fact that she sometimes saw flashes of emerald eyes and a small smirk when she climaxed. That was the real reason she was always itching for more, chasing the high of a girl she hated to think about any other time of the day. 

Nothing ever went beyond a few days. Josie didn’t have any desire or energy to share herself with anyone that went beyond sex. Every night would follow with an awkward morning after that Josie would respond with by leaving a small note on her acquaintance’s pillow, bidding them to help themselves to whatever they needed. It always ended in a ‘thanks and goodbye.’ Never a ‘hope to see you again soon.’ Beyond high school, she never attempted to have a real relationship with anyone. Those that came back hoping for more would always be disappointed. Those that understood Josie’s terms would be welcome back for a bit as she forgot her reality and disappeared into another world t

It was a crisp fall day and Josie was taking the the long way back to her cozy studio apartment from a busy day in the lab with Freya.

Josie was deep in her thoughts as she made her way back, sipping on the chai latte she picked up from the local coffee shop down the street. She loved walking through the neighborhood park during the fall. The changing color of leaves reminded her that life was always dynamic. No matter how bad things got, a day would go by and you would see the world in a whole new color.

With the keys turned in the lock of her door, Josie happened upon the most unexpected sight she could imagine. Her mother was distraught, holding a bloody, ripped t-shirt to the ribcage of a girl she never thought she’d see again. 

Penelope Park, the girl in question, was pale and clammy. Her uneven breathing and shut eyes showcased enough pain for Josie to jolt forward in a rush. 

“Mom?! What happened?!” Josie dropped everything she was holding to the floor, hastily shutting the door and ripping her scarf off to help stop the bleeding. 

“Josie, honey, I need you to help me heal her right now. I’ll apologize and explain later, but she has an extremely deep cut. I’m not sure if it hit anything important,” Caroline explained breathlessly. 

“Mom...I...” Josie shook her head as if to get her bearings straight. “I don’t have anything here to even remotely help. You need a hospital.”

Caroline resolutely shook her head no. 

“No, sweetheart....I made her a promise,” Caroline looked reluctant, glancing down at the face of the young woman bleeding out in her arms.

“This is absolutely crazy. You need to call 9-1-1.” Josie moved to place her hand on the girl’s forehead, naturally feeling for any sign of fever. 

“No, Jo, I can’t. This has to be off the books. Penelope and I have an agreement I intend to keep. You need to help her, please. Do something,” Caroline pleaded.

Josie was pretty sure that shock had set in long ago and she didn’t know how much longer she had with the rate of her blood loss. 

Now that Josie thought of it, she could see the veins of struggle and desperation present on her vampire mother’s face. She allowed her short training on basic first aid and instinct kick in.

“Mom, help me get her to the bed.”  
Caroline easily lifted Penelope with Josie keeping a firm hand on the wound to minimize blood loss.

“I need you to the nearest hospital and steal some O negative bags and antibiotics. Heavy pain meds while you’re at it. She’s lost too much blood for her to recover on her own and she’s about to be in an extreme amount of pain. I have a suturing kit...I can get started on patching her up.” Josie’s voice wavered, but she powered on. “It seems that whatever it was went all the way through her... fuck. I hope there isn’t any internal damage.”

Josie was so frustrated and stressed at what was happening in front of her. 

“Mom, you really need to get her to a hospital right now. I can’t be sure of anything and she could die.”

Caroline stayed quiet. Josie took that as her refusal.

“I’ll run and get supplies. Josie, please, do whatever you can to save her.” With that, the blond vampire rushed off in a blur to take care of her task.

Josie stared at Penelope for a beat too long before snapping out of her stupor at Penelope’s groan of pain.

With one shaking hand on her abdomen and another cradling the head of her newest patient, Josie hushed the girl. 

“Penelope, I need to leave you for just a moment, okay?” Josie sniffled, feeling like she was having an out of body experience. She grasped Penelope’s right hand and forced it to the cut firmly. Penelope jolted in pain at the sudden movement.

“Penelope, keep your hand firm. Absolutely do not drop it. We need to stop the bleeding,” Josie demanded before setting her down lightly with another loud groan of opposition from Penelope. Josie ran to find more linen and towels, as well as her suture kit. 

When she gathered up all of her supplies, Josie returned satisfied to see that Penelope obeyed and understood her order to keep pressure on the wound. Josie mustered the courage to take a peek at what she was working with. She quickly covered the wound back up with the bloody cloth, attempting to steel herself before moving on. The brunette was sporting a jagged, four inch long cut, just to the right of her righthand hipbone. Josie couldn’t be exact, but it seemed to be as deep as a couple of inches. She needed the girl awake for what would come next. 

“This is insane,” Josie murmured.

“Pen,” Josie tried. The girl shoved her away weakly.

“Penelope,” Josie called firmly with a tap to the cheek. After a few more calls, Josie began to get increasingly alarmed. She let the concern color her voice.

“Penelope, hey! Can you hear me? Baby, I need you to stay with me, okay?” At that, Josie saw two, emerald eyes open to take a deep look at her. They were dull and the pain was visible, but that was enough to reassure her that Penelope understood she needed to fight to stay conscious. Josie began to sterilize the needle as quickly as she could. 

“Penelope, I’m going to be giving you stitches, okay?” Penelope began shaking her head no. Of course she’d be stubborn, even in and out of lucidity. 

“Baby, look at me.” Green eyes stared deeply into her own before lolling back shut. “I have to, please. I don’t know enough magic to heal this one, Penny. We’ll have to do things the old fashioned way. You’re going to die if I don’t.” Penelope pointedly glanced at the bottles of liquor sitting on top of Josie’s fridge.

“I can’t give you any...I’m sorry. Alcohol will thin your blood too much and I don’t know enough to be able to guess what I can give you. I’m so sorry.” Josie had already prepped the needle by this point and her shaky hands betrayed her urgency to save this girl. She hoped beyond hope that her mother would be back soon with extra blood and antibiotics. There was so much blood pooling into the sheets.

Josie began to stitch up the wound and Penelope’s shallow breaths turned into muffled cries of pain. The girl was biting into her own arm to keep quiet. 

“Hey...hey...Penelope,” Josie barely got out over her own trembling voice. Josie was sure she was also crying now, pleading for the girl to stay conscious. “Do you remember that day you left?”

Penelope gave a short nod.

“I was angry...so, so angry at you for leaving me. You know, I thought that maybe you would just be there, in your room the next day or smoking on the rooftop with Landon. Maybe even waiting to walk me after my last class. I refused to believe that you were gone...but you were. You fucking left, Pen...and I hated you.” Josie was crying, desperately moving her hands as quickly and steadily as she could. Penelope’s cries quieted for just a moment. 

“I hated you so much, Penelope Park, and I dreamed of the day that I got to throw it all back in your face. The pain, the sadness, the anger. I hated you for not staying and working things out.” Josie’s voice was hoarse, but her fingers kept on weaving. She was halfway done now, Penelope’s breathing getting shallower by the minute. Come on mom, where are you?

“...for not being here when I found out about the merge, for not being here when I broke up with a Raf, for leaving me without a best friend.” Josie thought she was losing her, but she felt her chest puffing with short breaths. Josie wasn’t sure the girl was even hearing her, but she barreled on, equal parts hysteric and desperate.

“I hated you for leaving me, but I hated myself the most for making you feel like you had to go. You left me before I could fix things, Penny. So please...” Josie’s voice cracked and broke before she could continue. Don’t leave me now, Penny. I don’t think my heart could take it. 

“Don’t you fucking die,” Josie whispered rawly. 

Josie finished the last stitch and wiped down the suture with antiseptic before leaning down her forehead to touch Penelope’s. “Don’t die. I’m begging you.” 

Caroline made it back with blood and antibiotics in tow. It took awhile, but Josie got the blood transfusion set up and antibiotics administered. Penelope had long passed out from the pain, but her heartbeat was steady, even if her breathing was shallow. Once the adrenaline left her drained, she turned to demand answers from her mother.

Her weary mother explained that the two were on a quest to solve the merge and had been for the last few years. Josie didn’t know what to do with that information. Sensing the mounting barrage of follow-up questions, Caroline cut her daughter off with a simple request to wait until Penelope woke to get the answers she sought. Josie was upset, but she conceded. Though her relationship with Caroline had been strained since Josie found out about her parents keeping the merge a secret, she was so tired that Josie gave in to her mother’s comforting embrace. 

Caroline and Josie took turns keeping watch over Penelope for the next few days while she recovered. They talked and caught up on Josie’s day to day. Conversation was stilted and there was a bit of love lost, but Josie was all in all happy to see her mom. 

Josie was still able to make it to her classes with little interruption, other than the gigantic elephant of a distraction in her head that her ex-best friend had been out searching for a cure to her curse for the last five years. Days had gone by and though Josie was confident that Penelope was well hydrated by the IV, she was increasingly concerned about the rest of her nutrition. Josie didn’t have the materials or training needed to help the girl get by for a prolonged period of time. Aside from basic medical aid, Josie’s magical healing abilities were nowhere near practiced enough to really help the girl. Josie reached out to Freya for further advice and the latter swung by to inspect the wound. Freya assured her that Josie had already done what she could. She cast a few spells to accelerate the healing process, but they would still need to keep an eye on possible infection and wait things out. Caroline and Freya had stepped out to talk multiple times since Penelope and Caroline arrived. Josie was too drained to find out what it was all about. All she wanted was for Penelope to wake up.

Fortunately, Josie didn’t have to worry much longer because a week and a half in, Penelope woke up one night, gasping in pain. Josie jolted awake from her spot, perched in an armchair by the window.

“Caroline...Caroline!” Penelope cried out, still in pain, but much more lucid. Josie could tell she was aware because her eyes were bugging out and she was thrashing. Caroline materialized in the room with a loud rush of air.

“P! P, I’m right here, okay? I’m right here. You got hurt really badly in Paris and you lost a lot of blood... we thought we were going to lose you, honey.”

“The artifact...is it safe?” Penelope’s eyes shut again. Josie reasoned the sensory input must still be bothering her in her heightened state. 

“You never let it out of your hands.”

Penelope seemed to relax further into the bed at that. 

“Where are we now?”

“You...you jumped us back to the states. I don’t know how you did it, but you got us right where Freya Mikaelson is. We haven’t cast any enchantments on the artifact yet with Freya, but she said that the work you brought from Dr. Travers is promising.” 

Josie retreated to the corner of the room, out of sight. She wasn’t sure if Penelope was even aware that she was here with how manic she was upon waking. 

“What about Dr. Travers? Did he make it?”  
Caroline shook her head and Penelope nodded grimly. She drifted back into a deep slumber.

The next few days had the girl coming in and out of consciousness, but she was making a sure and steady recovery. There wasn’t another time that Penelope woke up as lucid as that first day so they weren’t sure if she would remember anything during her small waking moments. However, Josie and Caroline were put at ease by the color returning to Penelope’s face. 

Josie used this time to interrogate her mother on everything else she knew regarding the Gemini curse. The only thing her mother remained tight lipped on was anything regarding Penelope. Josie was frustrated and angry, not having fully forgiven Caroline for all of the secrets she and Alaric kept most of Josie’s life. To her mother’s credit, every challenge Josie threw at her didn’t make her budge about the story she insisted Penelope tell herself.

Josie came home from class one day to Penelope sitting up and speaking in a hushed tone with her mother. Josie hovered by the door, quietly eavesdropping. It didn’t seem like anyone noticed her opening the door. 

“Caroline, you can’t bench me now. We’re so close!”

“Don’t exaggerate, you big baby. I’m not benching you forever. You threw the ball long and I’m just running it to the endzone for a little, alright? Freya Mikaelson is here and she’s unlocking it right now. Once you’re all healed up, I’ll call you to the lab.” Penelope slumped back into the bed, peeved. 

“Fine. Just...could you get me out of here before she comes back?” Penelope pleaded. Caroline looked sympathetic, but Josie stiffened. 

“Sweetheart, you’re on mandatory bed rest for the next two weeks. Baby Dr. Saltzman’s orders so you’re going to have to face her sometime.” Caroline sniffed the air. “Speaking of which.”

Penelope cringed and made a half-assed attempt to cover herself with her blanket. 

Josie walked into view and set her keys on the kitchen counter of her studio apartment. She didn’t really know what to say so she stuck to pointed staring.

Penelope felt Caroline hit her on the back of the head, quietly beckoning her to take charge of the awkward situation. 

“Ow!” Penelope moved to rub the stinging away before she removed the covers from her face.

“Jojo...hey...” Penelope gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Caroline looked at her with an incredulous face. For such a talented witch, she sure was a dumbass. 

“I’m going to just...show myself out. Bye sweetheart. I’ll be back tomorrow to take us out to brunch.” Josie gave a tight smile in response to Caroline’s kiss to her forehead.

Penelope saw Caroline mouthing, “don’t be a dumbass,” as the older vampire exited.

The girl looked everywhere except directly at Josie until the tension was so palpable that she couldn’t handle it anymore. As soon as brown eyes met emerald, Penelope knew that the cut was she just got stitched up was nothing compared to the world of hurt she was about to be in. 

Oh boy, here we go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I rewrote this chapter quite a few times because I thought I wrote myself into a corner. I didn’t like how I was writing the descriptions of their thought processes that much. I wanted it to come through more clearly based off dialogue alone, but it didn’t work out that way. Hopefully, you all enjoy it just the same. I’m about to go through the rest of my chapters to proofread and reformat. Now that I have a little more time, I’ll try to be neater about things.
> 
> A few notes, I tried to focus on a specific flaw in Penelope and Josie. Penelope’s flaw is that she is afraid to verbally communicate how she feels and doesn’t like being the first one to reach out because it makes her feel vulnerable. She acts often and is obvious with her actions, but she puts the onus on others to respond. 
> 
> Josie’s flaw is that she is out of touch with what she wants because she bases most of what she wants on what others want from her. 
> 
> I feel like in the confession scene, Penelope would purposefully use the truth to distract from the other secrets. I wanted her to stumble though and accidentally give up more information/truth than she originally intended. It was important for her motivation to leave to be multifaceted. Once the time jumps, I intend to be more in Josie’s headspace.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	8. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie and Penelope navigate a torrent of emotions.

Penelope looked out the window to give herself a break from Josie’s intense gaze. The Los Angeles skyline was oddly peaceful with the hustle and bustle of folks trying to get home to their families after a long day of work. 

Here she was, having a reunion with the one girl she’d do anything for. Penelope often wondered how her return would feel like. Inevitable, that much was certain. If she hoped to save Josie, she knew she’d have to come back someday. The catch was that the girl hated her guts. She couldn’t tell if Josie’s gaze was intensely filled with emotion or intensely void of anything at all. She longed for their shared past when it was much easier to read the taller brunette. Penelope settled her eyes on the pillow at her knees, allowing the silence to stretch on. 

Josie rolled her eyes at Penelope’s lack of explanation or any form of interaction at all. In the last few years since high school, she also had a thousand possibilities running through her head about how their reunion would go. Those thoughts had quite the range, generally including some light violence, heavy cursing, and sharp yelling. Now that her mother clarified Penelope’s disappearance, Josie’s thoughts shifted. It was a lot more comfortable when she could label all of Penelope’s actions as wrong. Knowing her motivations made things much more complicated. 

Josie herself was often driven to be anything and do anything for the people in her life. Sometimes, it was to the extreme.

Josie had grown a lot since that day Penelope left. Finding out about the merge was the primary catalyst for her to really live, but it was Penelope that made her seek out what was worth living for. She found her voice and a passion in something that was solely for her. She wondered if Penelope changed too. 

The more selfish part of Josie wished to fill the gaping hole in her chest with more anger. Penelope’s intentions didn’t change the fact that she just up and left. Josie wanted to condemn her for being cowardly enough to run from explaining it all. Or maybe Penelope just thought she wasn’t worth explaining to. No, Josie knew enough now to keep the insecurities at bay. The day Penelope left muddled a lot of Josie’s perception of self-worth, but she had been getting better with the help of Lizzie, her friends, school, and work with Freya. 

She wondered if the girl even remembered the night she came close to death, bleeding out on Josie’s apartment floor. So far, Penelope didn’t seem to remember a thing. Josie still had the emotional upper hand, much to her relief. 

“What?” Penelope questioned Josie’s eyeroll.

Josie held Penelope’s stare and the soft quirk of her brow. Frustration and anger boiled underneath Josie’s skin. She huffed and walked to her fridge, carelessly grabbing the bottle of tequila that sat on top. 

Penelope turned further inward at the girl’s decision to ignore her. She’s fought witches and monsters, even almost got sacrificed for some fucked up ritual for this girl, but not a single thing Penelope endured was more tiring than fighting with Josie. Well, fighting her feelings for the girl was pretty high up on the list too.

Josie rifled through her cabinet for two shot glasses and roughly placed them on the 4-person table in her kitchen. 

“I can’t do this sober and you’re just in the clear enough to avoid bleeding out by drinking this. I switched your painkillers to a spell Freya and I have been working on. There shouldn’t be any complications.”

Penelope was a little surprised. However, she obliged and carefully made her way over to the table. Josie was right about her recovery. Everything felt much better compared to the first day she woke. She noted her side still twinged a bit as Penelope gingerly took her place. 

Josie threw her shot back when she motioned for Penelope to do the same. Penelope chastised herself for being more than a little impressed and attracted to her ex-ish-best friend. She knew it wasn’t the time for such things. They had a lot to work though. Penelope took her own shot. The burn was a welcome departure from the awkwardness of the encounter.

“Talk.”

“...what do you want to know...?”

“You can start by explaining how you got that stab wound.”

Huh. Josie was beautiful when she was demanding. 

“It was a dagger, an artifact from the Ash Coven. My coven.”

“I thought your family didn’t have ties to any single coven? Weren’t you all more mobile than the others?”

“Emma did a lineage test on me when I began training with her. She said I would have a greater understanding of what spells I could develop if I knew where I came from. I consented, but I didn’t discover their name until your mom found me the week of your 16th birthday.”

“How does this have anything to do with how you got stabbed if your coven owned the artifact?”

“Well, I kinda...stole it. Look long story short, your mom got a lead on a potential fix for the merge and I went around Europe with her until we finally found where it ended up. France. A friend, Dr. Travers, had just removed it from an excavation site and began researching it at a university. It’s said to act like a reservoir for magic and we weren’t the only ones that wanted it.”

“A few rivals who also wanted it had been waiting for the excavation to finish, intending to capitalize on someone else doing all the heavy lifting to get it out of the ground. They weren’t banking on your mom and me recruiting Dr. Travers to help with the merge. Needless to say, there was a fight. Caroline and I were already a bit roughed up from before so I began casting a teleportation spell on her signal.”

Josie felt like more answers led to more questions.

“Why this specific dagger?”

“I’d rather go with you to Freya’s lab to explain why we were after it. It will be easier to show you rather than explain it.”

Josie wasn’t pleased and it was obvious. She scoffed to Penelope’s surprise.

“More secrets, more hiding. Tell me, did you ever think to stop and ask yourself if I should have any say in this dangerous gamble for my life, Penelope? Or is making decisions for other people a habit now?” Josie’s scathing remark made Penelope cringe, but irritation also set in. She clenched her jaw and fixed her eyes on the wall behind Josie’s head.

“Josie. Everything I did was for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to do everything, Penelope. I only wanted you.” Penelope’s questioning eyes shifted to Josie. “I only wanted you to stay, that is. Instead, you lied and left.” More than a few beats passed before Josie snapped them out of their thoughts. This back and forth was getting exhausting. 

“How did you even know where my apartment was?”

Penelope took a deep breath after the heavy moment and thought for a second. 

“Well, I didn’t exactly jump us here first. I aimed for Freya’s lab. I didn’t want to risk being on the same continent as the others that were after the dagger and I knew we’d have to make our way here eventually. Your mom tried to give me vampire blood before we got to your place. It usually worked. Only this time, it didn’t. When we realized, she asked me to get us to you. I didn’t know exactly where you were, but I could just feel you. I was shocked that you were so close by...Your mom told me that you were studying medicine. You’re doing it, Jo. Following your dreams.”

Josie cleared her throat. She didn’t know what to do with the quiet adoration Penelope gave her when everything they’ve been through came at the cost of their friendship. She refocused on the topic at hand.

“Why didn’t the blood work?”

Penelope’s face faltered at Josie’s business tone.

“Um, we both think that the dagger began absorbing whatever magic it could the moment it lodged itself in me. Probably why I wasn’t healing from the blood.”

Josie’s curiosity was piqued, but knew she’d get answers on this so-called merge solution tomorrow.

“If it was the artifact you were trying to get, how did it end up lodged inside you?”

Penelope ran her hand through her hair and chuckled, “Your mom was adamant about me letting it go and for us to jump back to our hotel to regroup. She thought it would be safer to get it later. I was a little stubborn. I thought I could get the dagger and jump us to Freya’s. I...didn’t want to waste anymore time.”

Josie ignored the obvious reference to her expiration date.

“I had been experimenting with a magnetism spell and decided to try it out on the dagger as we were making our getaway. The portal was already in place so as we were walking through, I pulled the dagger in with us. I was aiming for a safe return to my hand, but I kinda missed...”

Josie took another shot before pinching the bridge of her nose, digesting the fact that Penelope accidentally stabbed herself. 

“You saved the dagger by stabbing yourself with it by accident...For someone so talented, how are you so incredibly stupid sometimes?”

Penelope huffed out a laugh. Pain aside, she couldn’t help shooting Josie a crooked grin. 

“You think I’m talented?”

Josie didn’t want to give Penelope the satisfaction, but she couldn’t help the slightest crack of a smile at the shorter girl’s sheer incredulity. The silence that enveloped them was much warmer this time. A reminder of how close and comfortable the two used to be.

Josie didn’t want things to be comfortable though. She wanted to be angry at Penelope.

Josie quickly sobered at the realization that she had lost so much time with Penelope. She hated that time was still running out as they spoke. This was all stupid merge’s fault, but Josie just didn’t understand why the other girl couldn’t have just stayed to fight fate beside her. Penelope noticed the shift from levity back to the rockiness from before.

“...I hate you.” Though her voice was small when she said it, Penelope could see in Josie’s eyes how true that statement was. She understood.

“I know.”

“You left me.”

“I know.”

“You lied to me and you explained away leaving me under some half-assed guise that you loved me? That’s fucked up, Penelope. Even for you.”

Penelope placed her tongue in her cheek. She knew Josie was angry, but she reserved the right to be just as frustrated. Penelope wouldn’t be called a liar about her feelings. 

“That part wasn’t a lie.” Penelope leveled her eyes on Josie and raised her chin in defiance, though the vulnerability in Penelope’s eyes betrayed her.

Josie felt like those words burned her. They struck her in the heart and just continued to burn everything else in their wake. 

After finding out a few days ago that Caroline recruited Penelope to help her, she had gotten it into her mind that it was all some big lie to distract Josie from the truth. A way for Penelope to have an easy getaway. It seemed that Penelope was telling the truth.

Josie was always too stubborn to admit that she had any feelings left for Penelope, but watching her almost die and finding out it was all for her made her realize it full force.

She had to stand. Josie made her way to the window before allowing herself to feel. It was too much emotional input. She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt tears drip onto the arms crossed protectively around her chest. It was a feeble attempt to keep her heart whole.

Penelope got up, realizing Josie was upset.

“Jo, I...I’m sorry. It doesn’t make up for any of it, but I’m sorry.”

She didn’t understand how her unrequited feelings were relevant. She knew Josie didn’t love her the same way. Josie confirmed as much when Penelope left school. However, Penelope knew well enough that she didn’t believe Josie was being cruel. Penelope was embarrassed, but she promised Caroline she wouldn’t be a dumbass. Penelope owed the girl whatever truth Josie wanted. Penelope knew they weren’t okay, but they would be. They were on the road to healing.

“How much of that day was real? When you left, that is.” 

“All of it,” Penelope stared. Josie chewed on the information.

“When did you know that you had feelings for me?”

“I’m sure you could answer that yourself. You knew and you never brought it up.” Josie’s face flushed red. She deserved that.

Penelope sighed. She could hear Caroline lecturing her about being so contentious. She needed to listen and communicate if she wanted to avoid more bad blood.

“It wasn’t a single moment.”

Josie’s eyes were trained on Penelope. A silent signal to continue. Penelope inwardly groaned and shifted her eyes to the ceiling before bracing her arms at her hips in a physical outlet for her embarrassment.

“I didn’t actually realize it till middle school, but looking back on it now, I should have probably known when I first met you in the garden.”

“No.”

“Yes,” Penelope quirked her eyebrow in challenge. 

“No. You can’t reasonably tell me that at age five you knew you’d...”

Josie covered her face to hide her smile at how ridiculous Penelope was being. Penelope returned the smile with her own grin.

“A hundred percent. I may have not loved you in the romantic sense, but I knew you were going to be important.”

Josie was quiet in thought.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Josie questioned. 

“I told you already. I wasn’t ready for things to change. I wasn’t ready for you to reject me. Then, Raf happened. You looked happy. That was that. I wasn’t planning on spilling the beans when I left. It just kinda happened.” Penelope turned around completely to face the rest of the the apartment for a moment of reprieve before challenging Josie’s question with her own.

“Why didn’t you say anything either, Josie?” There was no malice to Penelope’s tone. Just exhaustion and a need for truth. 

“Why not just tell me you didn’t feel the same and let me down quickly? It would have been the lesser evil.” Penelope said in hoarse voice. Her mind replayed the day she left. 

“Because I was afraid.” Josie softly whispered, “I was afraid of how much I wanted you too.” 

Josie heard Penelope take in a sharp breath. 

Penelope dragged her eyes back to Josie’s face, the both of them with fresh tears threatening to spill over from their eyes.

“What?”

“I did feel the same way, Penelope. I was just too afraid to admit it.”

“I’m confused. You told me that you didn’t feel the same way back at Salvatore.”

“Saying nothing is not the same as denying something.”

Josie noticed the LA street traffic had died down considerably since the night began.

“I didn’t realize it until Rafael confronted me about them, but looking back on it now, I was stupid not to know how I felt about you. You weren’t a sure thing though. You went through girls like clothes that were in and out of season. I wasn’t about to just give up our friendship for something unsure. You meant too much to me.”

“So you let me believe that it was just me that had feelings? I went crazy over you, Jo.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t really ready to say anything the day you left. I was still working a lot of things out at the time. But. If you just stopped shutting me out, we may have had a half-way honest conversation. Instead, you just kept pushing me away.”

Penelope’s brain was in the middle of shutting down because the girl she currently loved admitted to previously having feelings for her. Penelope was mentally kicking herself when Josie asked a follow-up question.

“...Would you do it any differently if you had the chance? Leaving like you did? Leaving me.”

Penelope’s face was resolute.

“No, I wouldn’t change a thing. All of this is worth it if it means you get to live past the merge. Even if you never want to see me again.”

Penelope said that last part with a certain tentativeness Josie couldn’t stand. Like Penelope couldn’t trust Josie to handle the truth, like she couldn’t trust their friendship enough to stay, just like that day she left years ago. The anger and frustration returned.

“That’s your takeaway? Oh my goodness, do you not get that I just wanted you to stay and fight for our friendship, Penelope. You could have told me the truth about where you were going, but you took that choice away from me to chase some alternative when we could have faced things together? Do you think I wanted to see you nearly did for me? I just wanted my best friend.”

“Okay, shit. When you put it that way... Jo, I am sorry for not being brave enough to stay for our friendship, but I won’t apologize for doing everything I can to save you. I cannot lose you.” Penelope voice was pleading and raw.

Josie’s body moved before her mind could catch up. The next thing she knew, she was kissing Penelope hard.

Eyes wide, Penelope was taken aback. She immediately pulled away. 

Josie’s arms firmly held her, but she didn’t continue. Penelope searched her eyes and found a smoldering darkness.

“I hate you.” But Josie didn’t have any bite to it. She knew, fundamentally, they would never see eye to eye on the matter.

“I know, Jojo.”

Penelope resumed the kiss softly with as much love as she could, even as Josie bit and bruised with her own relentless passion. She didn’t want to think about what it meant. All she knew was that it made the aching in her heart hurt a little less. She hated how Penelope was so intent on being soft with her. She didn’t want soft. Josie felt her own body burning up and she would be damned if anything stopped how good it felt to be kissing Penelope Park.

That’s why Josie’s eyes flung wide open the moment Penelope suddenly pulled away, an argument hot on her lips.

Josie wasn’t expecting to see Penelope’s eyes pitch black with her lips parted and her head slightly tilted upward. Is there was a good and an evil, Josie knew that look of lust had to be pure sin. 

Josie looked down to where her hand was placed, just over Penelope’s heart. Her own lust-addled mind didn’t even realize what she was doing until Penelope leaned her forehead to Josie’s for a moment of reprieve. 

“Not that I’m complaining, Jo, but if you keep siphoning, I’m not going to be able to stop whatever this is.” 

Josie immediately pulled away. 

“I’m so sorry, Penelope. You’re hurt and you’re just finally getting better,” Josie began as tears continued to fall. “And god do I hate you right now. For leaving me and not even asking once how I would feel about it all.”

“Jo, you need to breathe. You’re beginning to hyperventilate.”

“Don’t you tell me what to do,” Josie hiccuped.

“Are we hitting that drunk stage too?”

“...no.” Josie cringed at the whining in her own voice. All the intensity and pressure from before replaced with the blanket of being emotionally drained. Josie didn’t understand how they could both be crashing like waves on a rock cliff one moment and completely calm the next.

“Some things never change. Lightweight.”

Penelope was like the fireplace she always wanted to return home to. Maybe it was just their dynamic. Maybe it was how things were meant to be.

Penelope couldn’t help but smile at Josie. They weren’t perfect and there was a lot to talk about, but they were on the mend.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“Don’t you think we’re done talking about this. You owe me a new bed by the way.” Josie let the liquor fog her brain. She was tired of feeling more emotional rollercoasters than was normal for a lifetime.

Penelope gave her an apologetic smile.

“Sorry about the blood. Hmm how about a California King? But only if you share.” Penelope wiggled her eyebrows. She felt a giddiness to her lifelong crush being returned, but she knew it wasn’t appropriate to have expectations just yet.

Josie’s face heated up much to Penelope’s amusement. However, Josie never liked backing down from a challenge.

“Yeah, Samantha down the street has been asking to get together for some time now. I’m sure she would love to share.”

“You wound me, woman.” With Josie smiling in return from her bed, Penelope cleared her throat and threw a pillow at Josie’s face. 

“Hey! Rude. Wait, where are you going?”

“Couch. It’s more comfortable anyway. You’ve been snoring up a storm these last few days.”

Josie played with the edge of her covers. She caught the hint of vanilla blanketing her senses. It was Penelope’s scent. 

“Pen.” Penelope turned to face Josie as she continued making up a place to sleep on Josie’s couch. 

“Yeah?”

“Don’t leave, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“I don’t...I don’t think I could take it again.”

Penelope walked over to Josie’s side. She leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. Josie’s eyes fluttered shut.

“I’m in this with you to the end, Josie.”

And with vanilla on her sheets and a warm hand running through her hair, Josie drifted off into a deep sleep feeling just a little bit more whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry this one took awhile! I read your comments and they are very supportive/helpful. Thank you! More about the dagger will be explained in the next chapter. I wanted this chapter to cover the push and pull of their feelings. Some core themes are the fact that Penelope and Josie have very different interpretations of how they show love. That’s why they argue about staying and self-sacrifice so often. Penelope pushing Josie away when it comes to choosing to face things together is countered by Josie pushing away her feelings for Penelope. Both of them do this because they’re afraid of losing one another, but it’s counterintuitive.
> 
> I tried to make this push/pull dynamic clear. They’re two people with a lot of history. They make jokes, but they’re still angry. They hate the others decisions, but they still love one another. It’s frustrating to them, but they are who they are and I think the show depicted that very well.
> 
> Anyway, happy holidays and we’ll get to wrapping this all shortly!
> 
> Apologies in advance about mistakes. I was busy for the last few months, but I rushed to get this done over the weekend.


	9. Worth Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long. Without further ado, here is the next chapter! As always, please let me know what you think.
> 
> Sending you my best during these uncertain times.

It was dark and quiet in the apartment. Penelope was pleased it matched her mood as she stole a glance at Josie’s sleeping form from her spot on the wood floor. Legs tucked with her back to the window frame, she took a deep breath. She felt like she hadn’t breathed in months. Mind constantly on the next lead or spelling away tracks to keep the baddie of the week at bay, her life on the run had defined her for the last few years. Intense was the only mode she knew.

Josie’s even breathing was welcome company. She would be lying if she said she never dreamed of Josie. The unfortunate part was that most of them were unkind. On the nights her subconscious gave her reprieve, she reveled in the ghost of a familiar smile, or a touch of hands from simpler times, before the dream ended the same way as countless others before had. She didn’t realize she was crying until she saw droplets fall onto her hands.

Penelope needed to leave. She could hear her own heartbeat thrum inside her head as her breathing quickened. Though she wished to stay until Josie woke up, her restlessness overtook that desire.  
She made her way to the door and took one last lingering look before smoothly shutting the door to the apartment. 

The air outside was brisk. The moon shined bright against the backdrop of pure night. The rustling leaves came and went like soft whispers and hushed conversation.

Penelope took a second to breathe it in, hands in her pockets with her face to the sky. It had been some time since she savored the night. She let her feet take her on a trip to nowhere in particular. She didn’t know how much time had passed with only the occasional cricket or rustle of leaves to keep her company. The next thing Penelope knew, she found herself in a convenience store just a few blocks away from Josie’s. 

From the soft “ding” of the front door opening, to the harsh, white light overhead, Penelope took comfort in how predictable the setting was. She put her hands in her pockets and took her time poking around the aisles. 

Once she was satisfied with her ice cream choice of the night, she made her way to the front register. 

“Just this and a box of Reds for me.” 

The convenience store clerk wordlessly nodded before leaving to grab the cigarettes from a display box at the end of the counter. Sliding money to the clerk to feed her addiction, Penelope tapped her cigarette box once on the counter in silent thanks.

Penelope decided an old tree stump just across the street would be as good a spot as any to enjoy her night under the moonlight, away from any responsibility. 

Penelope went to light up a cigarette, just before a streak of blonde snatched it clean out of her mouth.

“Hey! I paid for that!”

“Are you for real? You’re still recovering.”

Caroline’s fond tone betrayed the displeased set of her mouth. 

“How many times are we going to have this conversation, Penelope? Smoking kills.”

“And I’ve told you countless times, Caroline, how can it kill someone that’s already dead inside?” Penelope’s wry smile took center stage.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” Caroline took the cigarette and popped it in her own mouth before lighting it.

“Hypocrite,” Penelope stated before opening up her melting ice cream, cigarette forgotten. Penelope had to admit, the admonishing Caroline provided when Penelope tried to smoke was sometimes more comforting than the nicotine.

“You said it yourself. Can’t kill someone that’s technically already dead.” Caroline shot Penelope her own shit eating grin.

Caroline continued, “Plus. You look terrible, sweetheart. Would you like some company?”

Penelope leaned further back into the park bench and settled her eyes on a tree-line in the distance. She hummed her assent. Penelope couldn’t tell you how much time passed until she said something. Caroline never minded her long stretches of silence in between the bitchy banter that they often shared these days. The two had a long history by now and were extremely close. Though she was the mother of her best friend, Caroline seemed more like an older sister to Penelope. She was always game to stoop to Penelope’s level in impetuousness, but it was always like Caroline understood Penelope thrived when challenged by others. Caroline always picked up on Penelope’s agitation, incredulity, and hardheadedness. Where others would back away, Caroline leaned in. Years of teamwork brought this unlikely pair of women closer together and Caroline would gladly call Penelope an equal. When she first met this fiery girl, Caroline joked and called her a daughter-in-law out of jest. Now, she understood the depth of Penelope’s feelings for Josie. 

She often reflected on how much loyalty and dedication it would take for someone to just up and leave an entire life and family behind for love. Caroline admired that about Penelope. In addition to all of the life-or-death shenanigans they had gotten into, not a single moment of it did Penelope’s resolution to saving Josie waver. Today, Caroline would not hesitate to defend this girl as if she were her own blood. 

That is exactly why Penelope buying cigarettes and eating junk food at 2 am was so telling. Caroline knew her and because of that, she let a few moments go by to sit in silence with her. 

“She likes me too.”

Caroline nodded. She didn’t miss a beat. 

“Sweetheart, was there ever any doubt?” 

They didn’t share eye contact, but the intimacy of the night kept the conversation warm. Caroline knew Penelope. A certain detachment in intimate conversation helped Penelope stay comfortable with a small semblance of control. 

Penelope’s throat dried out before rawly delivering, “I can’t let her die.”

Penelope’s look was as intense as any. The emotion was heavy and filled the air. Nothing else had to be said. Caroline understood that this girl was afraid to love and to lose. Unfortunately, Penelope couldn’t help that she was already head over heels. Caroline knew better than anyone else that the saving both of her girls was not a guarantee, but she was a firmly believed that love could move mountains. 

“We won’t let her.” Caroline stated matter-of-factly. If it weren’t for the fire in her stare, Penelope would not have believed the comfort in those words.

The tears remained at bay. Penelope cleared her throat before simply saying, “Okay.” 

The two just sat there until dawn began break. It was serene and calming. Almost like the calm before a storm.

After some time, Caroline walked Penelope back home. Just outside the door to Josie’s apartment, Caroline took Penelope by the shoulder and yanked her into a quick hug goodbye, much to Penelope’s disapproval. After grunting her disapproval, Penelope quickly grasped the vampire before pushing her off to softly enter the quiet apartment.

Caroline chuckled before heading off her hotel for the second time that night. She was lucky that she was out making preps with Freya for the following day and that her call to Hope and Lizzie kept her up. She would have filled Penelope in later, but, for now, her partner seemed to have a lot of other things on her mind. It could wait until tomorrow.

The first thing Penelope heard upon entering the dark apartment was a soft voice cry out, “Pen?”

“Josie? Hey, what are you doing up? I’m sorry if I woke you.” Penelope shut her eyes like she was caught red handed though, reasonably, she knew she didn’t do anything wrong exactly. She walked up and sat at Josie’s bedside, searching out the other girl’s face in the darkness. 

Josie pulled her close, much to Penelope’s surprise. Just another in the string of surprises for this seemingly endless night.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey, yourself. You left. Again.” Her big brown eyes shined in the moonlight. Penelope could search endlessly in those eyes and find nothing but love...and sadness.

“Shit, I’m sorry Jojo. I just needed to clear my head. I meant it when I said I wouldn’t leave you again.”

Josie just clutched harder. In the smallest voice, she said, “Okay.” She tugged at Penelope’s hand, pulling backwards until Penelope’s body followed her own as Josie fell back on the bed.

Penelope’s heart thudded at the proximity and the intimacy of the embrace. Josie could sense the other witch’s rigidity and just cuddled deeper. She was fully aware, but the buzz of sleep made her want to burrow into the warmth of her bed. 

After a time, Penelope could only sigh and finally gave into the comfort of Josie’s embrace. 

Before her mind took the final leap into unconsciousness, Penelope smiled at what a wild ride her life had been so far because of this woman that she loved so much. She didn’t know what would come tomorrow or the next day. However, Penelope knew that Josie was worth everything.


	10. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie wakes up to a complicated morning. On top of that, family comes to town. The plan begins to roll in motion as the Merge nears.

Josie wished she could tell you she was having a good morning. She wished that birds outside her window chirping were a lot more melodious than mind numbing. She wished she opened her eyes to the soft glow of the morning rather than the most offending light imaginable. She wished that a wonderful sense of peace and fulfillment washed over her.

She wished for lots of things...and received absolutely zilch.

That’s why it shakes her to the core that the annoying rap of knuckles on her apartment door does not relent. If someone had to guess which of the seven dwarves she was, they would have a hard time choosing between Sleepy and Grumpy.

Falling clumsily out of bed and shuffling her socked feet over to the door, Josie opened the door with a harsh dismissal hot on her tongue.

The flame of half-awake anger died quickly and her eyes widened like saucers upon noticing the unexpected guest. 

“Josie!” The woman in question was the last person that Josie would’ve expected at the door, given the whirlwind that was the last 24 hours.

“Dammit...hey! Uh-what are you doing up so early on a Saturday? ...here?”

The sandy blonde’s name escaped Josie, but luckily she was none the wiser.

“Well, I was in the neighborhood and figured I’d drop off these scones and a coffee for you,” the woman dropped her tone a more seductive octave, “as a thank you for the other night.” 

The other woman’s shyness betrayed the sultriness of her tone. Her fingers came up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her pierced ear. 

“We didn’t have to do much talking for me to tell that something was bothering you.” The woman was sincere.

Recognition struck Josie and she finally remembered the striking blue eyes that currently peered up from under the woman’s long lashes. Josie’s face went scarlet from recalling a much less innocent memory of the woman’s gaze. Josie coughed before speaking with a much softer voice.

“Jade...thank you. I appreciate it.” Josie smiled a little bit more openly. The awkwardness of the situation didn’t escape her. Penelope was somewhere in the studio and last night was a whirlwind she didn’t even want to begin unpacking. 

“I have to be honest, Josie. My visit’s a little more selfish than you think...I was hoping you would be free for dinner sometime next weekend?” Shit. Josie was trying to carefully put some excuse together without sounding like a total jackass. Unfortunately, Jade took the silence as a flat out denial.

“Oh, fuck, I read this completely wrong, didn’t I?” Jade nodded to herself and ran a hand through her hair, almost like the movement would rid her body of the awkwardness of the situation. 

Josie pinched the bridge of her nose and scrunched eyes shut. Part of it was the hangover. Part of it was her own self-loathing. Jade was wonderful and sweet, though their time together was really just a few passing moments Josie spent with her in TA office hours and the drunken one night stand after hooking up at a local LGBT nightclub. Penelope was very much her past and, though Josie tried to shake the feeling, Penelope was beginning to seem like her present and future.

“Jade, it’s complicated? It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a relationship. Honestly, I’m still working through my baggage. You’ve been nothing but sweet and kind though,” Josie finished softly.

“Hey, no I get it. Um, here please, this is still warm and I don’t want it to go to waste. If or when things get less complicated, mind giving me a call?” Jade said with a small, charming smile.

Josie nodded, arms crossed with a slight blush dusting her face again. Things were much, much too complicated for that, but Jade didn’t have to know. She bid her goodbye with a small wave, before shutting the door and lightly banging her head on it.

“Rough morning?”

Josie shut her eyes and cursed under her breath before banging her head one last time. 

“Please tell me you were asleep for that conversation.”

Eventually she turned and opened her brown eyes to meet Penelope’s green ones filled with mirth and amusement. Josie could tell there was a slight crack of sadness, but she didn’t linger on that for very long.

“Nope. Saw the whole, glorious train wreck.” Penelope gestured with her hand and chuckled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. Luckily, another person decided to begin aggressively knocking on her door before Josie had to decide on a response.

Without looking, Josie swung the door open in irritation, another annoyed comment hot on her tongue. This time, she managed a, “What in the actual fuck do you want this damn early in the mor- oof”

A body crashed into Josie for a hug and robbed her of the breath in her lungs.

“Josie, goodness gracious. Language. What has gotten into you?” Caroline chastised. Somewhere in the background, Penelope snorted. 

Josie finally noticed the person squeezing the life out of her was none other than her twin.

“Lizzie? Hope? What are you doing here?” Josie, quickly recovering from the embarrassment of her mother’s reprimand, fiercely returned Lizzie’s hug before moving to embrace Hope with just as much warmth and welcome.

“Josie, Aunt Freya thinks she made a breakthrough with the artifact. With Penelope’s help, she thinks that we can begin the first phase of ——-“

“Operation #SavingSaltzmans!” Lizzie cut Hope off. To her girlfriend’s credit, she didn’t even look bothered. Must have been a frequent occurrence knowing Lizzie. With Josie still recovering from shock, Caroline, Lizzie, and Hope began filing into the studio with large, brown take-out bags in hand. 

“Josie, did you eat already?” Caroline noted the coffee and scone on the dining table as she made her way to loop her arm around Penelope’s in greeting. Josie wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to seeing her own mother be so comfortable with her kinda ex-best friend. On one hand, it warmed her heart that the girl she had such shared history with was well received by her own family. On the other hand, it made her envious of all the time Penelope had with her mother when all Josie had was long distance phone calls and failed promises. Even at 21, her insecurities still made her feel small. Josie had to remind herself that the two women did everything in their power to take care of her. There was one last niggling part in her brain that was still coming to terms with that, but Josie knew better than to give into her insecurities now that the lies were all out in the open. Forgiveness would continue to be a long road for some time.

“Yep, Caroline, she’s really been eating out her lionshare of the food around here.” 

Josie’s eyes bugged out at Penelope, blushing deep red for the upteenth time that day. Really, Penelope?

Penelope tried to school her face, but her grin threatened to give away the meaning behind the not so subtle innuendo. Regardless, she remained mum and no one noticed the awkward tension between them. So much has gone on this morning that Josie’s head was spinning. She needed caffeine.

“Lizzie, why are you doing the sign of the cross?” Hope questioned concernedly.

“Hope, the devil’s here to plot against us. Well, NOT TODAY SATAN. Your evil is not welcome here.”

“Good to see college was a waste of tuition money, Caroline. Even a topnotch university can’t seem to rehabilitate Lizzie’s dumbass energy,” Penelope’s mouth retaliated before her mind could catch her. Caroline slapped the backside of her head without even glancing at Penelope.

Penelope knew she deserved that. She went to rub the spot on her head, though it didn’t hurt much.

“Yep, sorry, sorry. My bad.”

“Wow, what world am I in? Did Penelope Park just apologize? Mom, I think you broke her,” Lizzie jibed.

Josie was close enough to grab her ear in her own form of retaliation.

“Okay, OW, Jo.” Lizzie’s face was incredulous. Unfortunately for her, Hope joined Josie in staring Lizzie down, expecting an apology.

“I am NOT apologizing to her. Jo, she left you and stopped talking to you for years. She stole mom from us and thinks she can just waltz back into our lives all willy nilly.”  
Lizzie was not whispering any of this and Penelope stiffened.

“Liz, it’s actually more complicated than that. I’m still working through how I feel about all of this too, but...” Josie locked eyes with Penelope from across the room, “Penelope’s always been there for us, even if we didn’t know.”

After the Caroline explained where the pair of them were for the last few years over brunch, Lizzie looked less murderous towards Penelope and much more pissed off at her mother. Caroline understood the feeling of betrayal her daughters had towards her. Hope held Lizzie’s hand in support and reserved whatever comments she had in mind. It wasn’t her place to drive this conversation. This was about Lizzie and Josie.

Penelope and Josie, on the other hand, did not have any opportunity to discuss the events of last night and continued to awkwardly avoid eye contact throughout the duration of the conversation.

“Mom, don’t you get that all we wanted these last few years was you? If this merge is as inevitable as it seems, we lost so much time to be together as a family.” Lizzie’s voice cracked and Hope’s heart broke for her.

“Sweetheart... I wanted to see you both grow, change, and learn. I wanted to be there for you for boyfriends, girlfriends, broken hearts, game nights, school dances, and all of that so, so much, but that’s not the hand life dealt us. I would do this all over again if that meant that you both get to live a longer and even fuller life beyond what this shitty curse dictates.”

“Jesus, Caroline, language.” Penelope joked to break the heavy tension in the air. She saw Caroline’s face, so worn and tired, while Josie was trying to hold back tears. She couldn’t bare watching the pain in the room over time lost between mother and daughters. 

Luckily, it worked and the room chuckled before Caroline playfully shoved Penelope. 

“It’s not much, but I am so very sorry, you two. I will continue to try and make up for all of this. I know the road ahead is long, but please know I love you both and I’ll never stop trying to make amends.”

The twins nodded in silence before coming over to hug their mother. After a few moments, Caroline received a phone call.

“Freya? Hey. Okay, we’re on our way.”

“Is she ready for us?”

“Yep, it’s your time to shine, kid. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The others looked at Penelope with a questioning look, but Penelope understood Caroline’s words perfectly. The pressure was on, but she would be damned if she got performance anxiety now. The twins lives depended on her ability to pull this off and she wasn’t going to let them down.

FAs the group made their way to Freya’s lab, Penelope hung towards the back in deep thought. The lab itself wasn’t very far away. Josie had said it was only a few minutes by walking which was extremely convenient. Lizzie was catching Caroline up on the details of her and Hope’s most recent year at school when another person fell into step with her.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Josie had a small grin.

“Your puns are still the worst,” Penelope complained, though her smile gave her away.

“I learned from the best.”

“Truest thing you ever said. I certainly am the best.”

“You’re lucky we’re outside. I don’t think my small studio could fit both your giant head AND your ego.”

Penelope scoffed in mock hurt, but this banter between the two of them was the most comforting conversation they’ve had since their reunion.

Josie’s face became more serious.

“Are we going to talk about last night?”

Penelope deflected. “Jade, huh? Are we ever going to talk about that?” Josie rubbed her temple.

“You heard most of that conversation, Pen. All of my relationships after you left...I’m not proud of it, but they weren’t very involved and were nowhere near an actual relationship. I don’t have feelings for Jade.” Penelope felt the unspoken words. I have feelings for you. Penelope felt her defenses fly out the window and she sucked in a long breath.

“Last night, I meant everything I said, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Josie took some time before saying, “Me too.”

“A lots coming in the next few days, Jo. It might be the best if we just focus on the cure for awhile.”

Josie nodded thoughtfully. It was slightly annoying that even now, Penelope tried to place something else before working on their friendship/relationship, but she understood that the girl in front of her sacrificed the better part of her young adulthood trying to save her. She was still pissed about the lack of agency, but there was good will behind all of these lies and mystery. They 

Josie stuck out a hand to hold Penelope’s. Penelope stopped walking to look at her. 

“Will you promise that you’ll stay and work this out after this is all over?”

Penelope lost herself in the depth of Josie’s beautiful brown eyes.

She replied with only a simple, “Yes,” but the one word carried so much meaning, love, and promise.

“Hey! We’re here!” Caroline called the two out of their moment. She glanced down at their intertwined hands with a smile.

The two blushed a deep red, but made no effort to relinquish their grip. They gave each other a small smile and proceeded to enter the lab.

Upon seeing her niece, Freya Mikaelson melted. The smile on Hope’s face and the way her eyes lit up made feelings of nostalgia and home rush both witches. Quickly catching up with questions of whether or not she was eating enough or liking school (yes to both), the two promised to chat more later that night. 

After relinquishing her brief embrace, Freya grasped Caroline’s arm in solidarity and addressed the room.

“Welcome, everyone. I wish you could be here under better circumstances, but I understand that we don’t have much time. The merge will be here come March of next year. That means we only have a few months left to try to beat it. Caroline, would you like to explain what you and Penelope have been working on?”

The twins and Hope curiously turned their attention to the other two people in their group. Caroline spoke first.

“Right. A few years ago, a scroll in South America clued us into a lead on an Ash Coven artifact. It took years of scouting Europe, but we ended up tracking it to Paris.” Caroline held up a dagger with 7 inch, short, wavy blade. The grip was ivory, with a crow etched at the pommel. The cross guard had a snake with words from another language, coiled up as if it were ready to spring. 

“Penelope’s connection to the Ash Coven was vital to finding this cure. I incorrectly interpreted that their coven was similar to the Gemini Coven in which they could create other dimensions and prison worlds. On our journey, we discovered that it’s more like a connection to —-“

“Death,” Penelope interrupted.

Caroline corrected her by saying, “the afterlife. She has been honing her prowess in curses and cures. I would say she’s second to only a handful of witches in the world.” Penelope looked uncomfortable with all of the attention. Even so, she shifted her gaze to Josie, curious about her thoughts. Luckily, Freya continued.

“With this dagger, we intend to rip open a bridge to the afterlife. By creating a small dimension in Penelope’s psyche and using Josie’s research into binding magical energies to other living beings, we’ll use Penelope as a shepherd. She’ll be an anchor of sorts for one of the twins. After waiting in the afterlife for the duration of their 22nd birthday, she’ll make her way back.” Caroline spoke again to underline the severity of danger in what they were planning. 

“This is something Penelope and I have researched into endlessly, but there isn’t much information to go on. Though it isn’t the first time a witch of the Ash has ever travelled to the afterlife in this way, it is the first time someone will be harboring another spirit. We’ll take these next few months to carefully craft this other dimension. The ascendant will not be necessary. Instead, we’ll bind the world to Penelope with Freya and Josie’s research.”

“Loopholes, you gotta love them,” Penelope said with a wry smile.

Josie’s head was spinning with the information.

“Is this...going to hurt you?” 

Penelope’s voice softened, “I’ll be alright, Jo. I’ll need some time to do it, but my coven has a special connection to the afterlife. The ritual of the crow will allow me to travel back and forth at will.”

“She won’t die immediately like you or I would, but the repercussion is that the longer she’s there, the more her spiritual energy is sapped away,” Caroline explained. “Don’t play this off like you aren’t taking your own huge risk, Penelope. My family is grateful for everything you have done for us.”

Penelope waved her hand as if it was nothing. The attention was a little much right now so she sauntered off around the room to take a peak at the rest of the lab. The high walls provided a lot of security with the exception of the short windows that lined every wall, right near the roof seam. 

The others got pulled into a conversation with Freya about how they could help with creating this other dimension to harbor a twin, while Josie and Lizzie argued about who would be risking their lives to go spend a night with death.

Caroline noticed her partner’s shifty mood.

“P, are you doing alright?” Penelope had just finished sliding a hand over a glass presentation case before deciding it was a tad dusty and rubbing her fingers to rid herself of the dirt.

“I’m fine, Caroline.”

“Hmm. Yeah, nope, not buying it.”

“Ugh, you’re insufferable,” Penelope joked. In reality, Caroline was just looking out for her and she appreciated it more than the other woman knew. 

“Give me a real answer.” Penelope took a few moments to dissect how she really felt about all of this. Penelope took a beat to realize how much she missed the comfort of Mystic Falls and her family at home. This group of people were also her family though and she would be damned to let any of them go without a fight.

“It’s really fine, Caroline. I’m just a little drained. I’m good to support.”

Caroline looked skeptical, but let it drop all the same. She and Penelope began running through the sequence of events in order to complete her bond to the afterlife. 

“Everyone, listen up. The ritual of the crow is a Ash Coven rite of passage. Unfortunately for us, record of the last person that ever did this was from back in the mid 1900s. After that, no instance was catalogued. Penelope will use the dagger first to enter the other side. From there, she’ll find a being the texts tend to call Death, the Guard, or the Banished one. It’s said that a witch shall make them an offering or do a favor on their behalf. What that favor is a bit vague and that’s where she’ll be going in blind. Those that fail this task don’t come back. Those that pass will then have free reign to pass back and forth between sides as a messenger of death in their own right.”

Everyone else in the room looked at her with a hard set to their faces. Josie and her pout was the only one displeased with how dangerous the mission sounded. As Penelope did a last check on some of the intricacies of the spell, Josie placed a hand on hers to still her actions. 

“Penelope...please. Be careful.” With that, Josie pulled her into an abrupt and iron gripped hug. Penelope’s heart softened and her arms slowly rose to meet hers in opposite complement to the fierceness Josie showed. 

“Always, Jo.”

With a flick of her wrist, Penelope nicked her hand for the blood offering the ritual demanded. With another flourish of her dagger, she tore into the very fabric of space and time itself, muttering an incantation that sounded harsh and ancient.

Where air was previously, a gash formed, revealing a dark space filled with flowing cosmic energy. Penelope didn’t look back before stepping through. Immediately, she felt like she was falling as a bright light enveloped her. The sensory overload countered the amount of peace that settled in her rib cage and numbed her fear, almost unnaturally. Time was hard to conceptualize since she couldn’t see and the there seemed to be no end in sight until her body slammed right into what felt like some ground or earth. Her eyes flung open, blinking away the remnants of the bright light that blinded her.

“Woah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, lots of rotating schedules and schooling has led to me lacking on the updates here. As always, thank you for the support. I don’t have anyone to read or correct my work before it goes out so sorry in advance for any mistakes you see.


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